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Thornbury, Walter.
The Life of J. M. W. Turner, R. A. Founded on Letters and Papers Furnished by His Friends and Fellow Academicians.
Publisher: Hurst and Blackett, London;
Date of Publication: 1862
Stock Code: 14766
First Edition. Octavo, 2 volumes, pp., xiv, [2], 416, plus frontispiece and 2 full-page wood-engraved plates; vi, 425, [1] blank, plus 4 full-page wood-engraved plates. Collated and complete. Uniformly bound in full polished tan calf, spine on five raised bands, ornaments in gilt to compartments, titled in gilt to black and red leather spine labels; double-fillets in gilt to boards; all edges marbled; marbled end-papers. Gift inscription to Cuthbert George Collingwood (1848-1933) from one Alfred John Davies, dated Easter 1867 in ink to front free end-paper of first volume. Corners and joints slightly rubbed. Contents very slightly toned but clean and neat. A near-fine copy. The author’s ‘most important independent publication’, from the library of the great-nephew of Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood (1748-1810). Vice-Admiral Cuthbert Collingwood was a respected naval officer of the first order, a key commander at the Battle of Trafalgar, and the friend, military partner, and successor to Vice-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson (1758-1805). Collingwood died without male issue and his daughters inherited much of his estate. His nephew, George Lewes Newnham Collingwood (1783-1838), edited his uncle’s correspondence in two volumes (1828/37). The former owner of this book, Cuthbert George Collingwood, was George Lewes Newnham’s son. Turner painted a number of maritime subjects pertinent to the Collingwoods. Turner painted the Battle of Trafalgar (1822), Wreckers off the Coast of Northumberland (1836), and the Fighting Temeraire (1838), which depicts tugs built on the Tyne pulling a gunship which had fought at Trafalgar. An attractive copy of the biography of Britain’s great painter of maritime scenes, owned by the the great-nephew of one of its most famous naval officers. £450.00