Measurements: 58.5cm (23in) x 82.5cm (32.5in)
Coloured etching. ‘The Battle off CAMPERDOWN fought on the 11th October 1797’. Engraved by Thomas Hellyer after the painting by Thomas Whitcombe. Inscribed ‘This plate is respectfully dedicated to LORD VISCOUNT DUNCAN, the OFFICERS and SEAMEN who so gloriously fought under his command’. Delineated underneath the image with names of the ships: Haerlem, Powerful, Director, Vryhied (Admiral De Winter), Triumph, Venerable (Admiral Duncan), Hercules, Alkmaar, Jupiter, Monarch and Ardent.’ Published by B.B. Evans at the Poultry, London 17 October 1799. Sheet: 48cm (19in) x 71cm (28in). Framed and glazed.
The British victory at Camperdown, formalized by the Dutch Admiral de Winter’s surrender of his sword on the quarter-deck of the flagship HMS Venerable to Admiral Adam Duncan on 11 October 1797, signalled a moment of reprieve for ‘true Britons’ from ideologically driven French aggression and the threat internal revolution. In the autumn of 1797 Britain had been at war with Revolutionary France for four years. Throughout the summer the French Directory had been encouraging the Dutch fleet to cover a landing of French 25,000 troops in Ireland in support of a planned rebellion, before proceeding to Scotland and launching a full-scale invasion of England.