Lot 383: PINE, JOHN (1690--1756).

THE TAPESTRY HANGINGS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: REPRESENTING THE SEVERAL ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH FLEETS, IN THE EVER MEMORABLE YEAR MDLXXXVIII. LONDON : JOHN PINE, 1739

THE TAPESTRY HANGINGS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: REPRESENTING THE SEVERAL ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN THE ENGLISH AND SPANISH FLEETS, IN THE EVER MEMORABLE YEAR MDLXXXVIII. LONDON: JOHN PINE, 1739

Folio (534 x 372mm.), engraved title within historiated border, 5 double-page plates each with 2 engraved maps (maps numbered I-X), one double-page map of the British Isles showing the track of the Armada, 10 double-page plates of the sea battle printed in green/blue within decorative borders incorporating medallion portraits (numbered I-X), 2 engraved maps of Cornwall & Devon and the Thames (each dated 1740; not described by the Berlin Katalog and often not present), list of subscribers, contemporary sprinkled calf, spine gilt in eight compartments with raised bands, 3 short tears in plates repaired, expertly rebacked by James Brockman, corners slightly rubbed

LITERATURE

Berlin Kat. 1677

NOTE

a fine copy. Shortly after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Lord Howard of Effingham, commander of the British Fleet, commissioned Robert Adams to produce a series of charts representing the various phases of the action and then commissioned Hendrik Cornelius Vroom to produce a series of designs for tapestries, based on the work of Adams. Some years later they were sold to James I and eventually came to furnish the walls of the House of Lords. All the tapestries (except one stolen and now lost) were burned in the fire that destroyed most of the Palace of Westminster in 1834.