Napoléon 1er

Contemporary coloured 'Sketch of the Situation of the TOWN of ST. JEAN D'ACRE with the position of the FRENCH besieging ARMY under the command of General BONAPARTE and the BRITISH SQUADRON co-operating with GEZZAR AHMET PASHA in its Defence .'.

11944 — On paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN 1816'. A fine plan so neatly and delicately drawn that it could easily pass for an engraving. The title concludes: '. its Defence under the Command of SIR SIDNEY SMITH. Kt. &ca. &ca. &ca. - on the 2nd: day of May 1799.' In landscape on one side of a piece of laid paper 29 x 42cm with the plan itself within a 19.5 x 32.5cm border. The drawing and the precise and detailed lettering are in ink the whole coloured in grey brown pink and blue watercolour. On aged and lightly-creased paper with a couple of small unobtrusive holes. On a scale of one and a half inches to half a mile. Nine ships are named from the 'Torride' to the 'Mary Ann' with the depth in fathoms and dotted lines of fire. The position of the English around the besieged town is given with an 'Aqueduct' and the 'Enemy's Trenches and Batteries'. A crude stylised representation of the 'Enemy's Camp' appears in the top left-hand corner. A nice memento to the battle and soldier Smith which Napoleon considered made him miss his 'destiny'. On paper watermarked 'J WHATMAN | 1816'. unknown