Broadsheet plan of Nelson's victory at the Battle of the Nile

FAIRBURN, John.

Disposition of the English and French Fleets at the Commencement of the Action August 1st 1798. A Chart of the Mouths of the Niles, Alexandria, &c. &c.
London: Fairburn, 1798. Engraved map with original body colour. Sheet 335 x 290mm.

Trimmed within plate top and bottom, creases, pinholes top left.

A very scarce broadsheet celebrating the victory that gave Britain's navy undisputed control of south European waters during the Napoleonic Wars. The upper panel shows how the British split into two columns and swept down on either side of the French fleet anchored in Abukir Bay; the lower shows the position of the bay in relation to the Nile Delta and Alexandria.
Although this was published only three months after the battle, Fairburn had already published a similar broadsheet. In the earlier version the ships are shown as symbols; here they are shown in profile, making a more striking image.
Broadsheets such as these were the published to inform the general public about important events, sold in bookshops & stationers. Issued as loose sheets they were difficult to store, so surviving examples are rare.


Stock ID : 21817