Lot 253: [NELSON, HORATIO.]

Printed broadside, "A Sketch of the Fellowship of Seamen to Prevent Mutiny and Desertion in the Royal Navy," docketed by Nelson on verso with the words "On registering Seamen", 330 x 205 mm, printed in Bath by Richard Cruttwell, after 1797, short fold-tear.

Nelson's copy of a rare naval broadside advocating a pension scheme for wounded seamen - inscribed in his left hand following his own injury at sea. The broadside, of which we have traced no other copy, argues for pensions for the wives and children of married seamen (on the basis that married seamen are less apt to desert) and for those disabled by accident in the merchant service or navy. Nelson lost his right arm in the Battle of Santa Cruz de Tenerife in July 1797.