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[Pratt, Samuel Jackson].
Account of John Covey, a Seaman on Board the Venerable, Who Had Both His Legs Shot Off, in the Memorable Action Off Camperdown.
Publisher: Printed by Gibson & Sanderson, Miln’s Court, Sold by W. Dickson High Street, and W. Whyte, St Andrew’s Street, Edinburgh;
Date of Publication: 1812
Stock Code: 15032
First separately published edition, after a version of the account in Pratt’s Gleanings (1801). Octavo pamphlet in sheets, pp., 8. Woodcut of Covey as a double amputee to title-page. Some soiling to lower section, occasional spots of foxing and toning. A well-preserved example. The first separately published account of John Covey, a sailor who converted to Christianity after losing both of his legs at the Battle of Camperdown in 1797. Covey was moved by visions prefiguring the loss of his legs, and believed his disability was the result of his dissolute lifestyle. He related this, and his account of the battle to the ship’s surgeon, who then related it to the author of this pamphlet, Samuel Jackson Pratt. The appearance of this account in Pratt’s Gleanings varies greatly, with this edition adding further exegesis on Covey’s account. The story formed the basis for a widely circulating religious tract, which was translated into Gaelic, Welsh and Manx. The only copy we locate, at the National of Scotland, has the same title but has an additional Religious Tract Society number to the imprint, suggesting it was an early reprint in the manner of the later religious tracts. This is, therefore, a seemingly unattested first state printing of this account of disabled veteran’s life and faith, drawn from the subject’s own account. £45.00