Military and Maritime Autographs

ADMIRAL SIR GEORGE COCKBURN Autograph Signature. British naval officer of the Napoleonic era. Present at the Battle of Cape St Vincent. Commander in charge at the capture and burning of Washington on 24th August 1814. Later first Naval Lord of the Admiralty. Autograph signature "G. Cockburn, Rear Admiral" on paper piece clipped from a document or LETTER. Approx 11.5 x 5 cms.  Fine...

HERBERT BENJAMIN EDWARDES "THE HERO OF MULTAN" Autograph Signature. British soldier and colonial administrator. Won fame as "the Hero of Multan" during the Second Sikh War. Autograph presentation signature "Herbert B. Edwardes. March 4th, 1867 [or 1857]". A signature, purely for the purposes of presentation, written horizontally on a sheet of writing paper.  Approx 18 x 11.5 cms. The blank leaf of the bifolium excised to a stub for the purposes of mounting.  Fine. Edwardes, finding himself near the fortified town of Multan in 1848 when disturbances broke out that would lead to the 2nd Sikh War, acted on his.....

MATA HARI Autograph Letter Signed.Margaretha Geertruida Zelle, known by her stage name Mata Hari. Dutch exotic dancer and WW1 spy.  Executed 1917. ALS. 4pp.  Victoria Hotel, Amsterdam.  16th May 191[-].  To "Cher Ami" (Dear Friend). In French.  Translation: "I recall that you were already suffering when I was anchored in Halie, is it still the same story?  We are also having a bad time living on our nerves.  Yes, the ballet is not for now, but suggest it to the Scala.  It is classical and very beautiful, especially since there is music by Couperin of 1730 with an accompaniment of.....

RUDOLF HESS Autograph Signature.Together with the 6 other high ranking Nazi war criminals held at Spandau Prison after the Nuremburg war trials - Albert Speer (1905-1981), Walther Funk (1890-1960), Admiral Karl Donitz (1891-1980), Grand Admiral Erich Raeder (1876-1960), Konstantin von Neurath (1873-1956) and Baldur von Shirach (1907-1974). All seven Spandau inmates have signed on a portion of a plan of Spandau showing the outer walls and guardhouse. All signatures are large, bold, fine examples, executed in differing inks, von Shirach's alone being in pencil. The large paper piece, being the top portion of a plan of the entire prison compound,.....

ADMIRAL JOHN JELLICOE Portrait Signed. British Admiral of the Fleet who commanded at the Battle of Jutland in WW1.   Autograph signature of Admiral Jellicoe, who has signed below a circular offset-litho photographic portrait of himself which has been mounted on a post-card.   The card measures approx 5.5 x 3.5 inches. Fine.   Admiral Jellicoe commanded the British Fleet at the Battle of Jutland in 1916. This was the only major battle fought on the high seas by the battleships known as "Dreadnoughts".  It was indecisive but considered a British victory as the German fleet retired from the engagement. The.....

ADMIRAL OF THE FLEET SIR HENRY KEPPEL Autograph Signature. British officer of the Royal Navy. Served in the 1st Carlist War. Commander of HMS Dido in the 1st Opium War, fought pirates in Borneo, Commander of the Naval Brigade during the siege of Sebastopol and at the capture of Canton in the 2nd Opium War. Autograph signature and four lines of text in his hand, clipped from foot of letter. Approx 11 x 6 cms.  Slight mounting traces to right edge of verso. Very good...

HERBERT KITCHENER Autograph LETTER Signed. Irish born British Field Marshal.   ALS.  2pp (with integral blank leaf).  Horse Guards, Whitehall, S.W.  June 20th, 1896.  To [William] Woodall.  Together with a fine portrait photograph.   "The £100 paid in 1888 to the 'R[oyal] Cambridge Asylum for Soldiers' Wives' was in settlement of a dispute between the representative of the Agricultural Hall, Mr. Raffety and the Tournament Committee.  Mr. Raffety selected the charity, and paid the money, which was sent in the name of the Committee."   8vo. Approx 7 x 4.5 inches.  Slight crease. Mounting residue and slight damage to verso.....

ADMIRAL WILLIAM MARTIN AUTOGRAPH Letter. Admiral Sir William Fanshawe Martin, 4th Baronet GCB. British Royal Naval officer. As First Naval Lord was a strong advocate for Britain's first "ironclad" warships. A reformer of naval discipline and an innovator of systems of manoeuvre for steam ships. AL. 2pp. Hyde Park Gardens. February 1st 1861. To [G.B.] Earp. "Sir Wm Martin presents his compliments to Mr Earp and begs to acknowledge the receipt of his note of this day, on the subject of the Dundonald Statue Fund.  Sir Wm most willingly accedes to the request contained in it, altho' his name can.....

GENERAL SIR CHARLES JAMES NAPIER Autograph Signature. British General. Served in the Peninsula War, wounded in the Battle of Corunna. In India, he famously overstepped his orders when he captured and subjugated the province of Sindh. Despite this, he was appointed Commander-in-Chief of British forces in India, a post he held until he quarrelled with the Governor-General, Lord DALHOUSIE and was replaced in 1849. Autograph signature on paper piece, being the foot of a letter or dispatch addressed to the Adjutant-General of the Forces, Horse Guards, London. The last line of the text reads "April, dated 1st May 1850" but.....

COLONEL JOHN WHITEHEAD PEARD Unsigned Photograph. British (English) soldier, known as 'Garibaldi's Englishman'.   A fine unsigned albumen carte de visite photograph of Colonel Peard by Grillet Jno. of 28 Sta. Lucia, Naples. Circa 1861. Peard is shown full-length in a woollen poncho of the same style as worn by Garibaldi, with his hand resting on a walking stick and a feathered hat placed on an Italianate marble column.   The carte de visite measures approx 4 x 2.5 inches including photographer's original mount. The photographer's printed details are on the verso. In exceptionally fine, unfaded, bright condition.   Colonel John.....