Darby (Henry D'Esterre, 1750-1823). Archive of signal and instruction books from naval service in the French Revolutionary Wars, mainly 1795-1800, comprising: 'Signals of Vice Admiral Sir James Wallace Kn, 12th August 1795' [cover-title], manuscript on paper, 18 pp., flags added in watercolour to 3 pp., final page inscribed 'Jas. Wallace, To H. D. Darby Esqr, Captain of His Majesty's Ship Adamant, By Command of the Admiral [signed:] J. Hill', stab-stitched in sheet of contemporary printer's waste, manuscript title to front cover, rear cover chipped, 2 annotated slips laid in (one headed 'Additional Signals made by day on board the Adamant' and signed 'H. D. Darby' with flourished underline), folio 'Instructions for the Conduct of the Ships of War, Explanatory of, and Relative to the Signal-Book' [cover-title], [probably 1795], 40 pp., accomplished, manuscript diagram, laid-in printed title-label 'Instructions for the Ships of War, etc. 1795' with 'Adamant' added in manuscript, original plain paper wrappers, printed title-label to front cover, folio 'Signal-Book for the Ships of War. 1796' [cover-title]. 83 pp., undated title on p. 1, original half calf, marbled boards, printed title-label to front, 4to Instructions for the Conduct of the Ships of War, Explanatory of, and relative to the Signals contained in the Signal-Book herewith delivered, [1796], 48 pp., undated title on p. 1, accomplished throughout, pp. 24-5 heavily annotated, p. 45 inscribed 'Given under my hand on board His Majesty's Ship St. Albans at Spithead 9 April 1796, Geo Vandeput, To Henry D'E Darby Esq. Captain of His Majesty's Ship Adamant, By command of the Vice Admiral John Stephen', water-stained, fraying to outer leaves, original marbled boards, spine and portions of paper covering perished, front board held by upper cord, rear board by upper two cords, 4to 'Instructions for the Conduct of Ships of War. 1796' [cover-title], d ated title-page + xii index + 3-64 pp., accomplished throughout, manuscript index tabs along top edge, presentation leaf (p. 64) completed in manuscript and reading 'Given on board His Majesty's Ship the Lively in Gibraltar Bay the 19th Day of November 1795 [read 1796], To Henry D. Darby Esq. Captain of His Majesty's Ship the Bellerophon, By Command of the Admiral [signed:] Geo. Purvis', original half calf, marbled boards, printed title-label to front, folio Ibid. 48 pp., undated title on p. 1, original half calf, marbled sides, printed title-label to front, 4to 'Additional instructions. 1796' [cover-title]. 2 8 pp, undated title on p. 1, original half calf, marbled boards, printed title-label to front, 4to Appendix to the Signal Book, [no date], undated title-page + 16 pp. + iv pp. index + unpaginated blanks, accomplished in pencil and ink, flags added in watercolour, title-page annotated 'Spencer, Rec[eived] off Ushant the 1st Novr 1800 from Adml Sir Hyde Parker', p. iv of index annotated 'Number of the Desireè [sic] on the List of the Navy, 223' and 'To H. de E. Darby Esq., Captain of His Majesty's Ship Spencer', stitched in original marbled paper wrappers, 4to, Signal Book for the Ships of War, [no date], title-page + 125 pp. (numerous blanks), typographic flag templates in text, original marbled boards, folio Signal Book for the Ships of War, [no date], title-page + vii + 60 pp., accomplished throughout, flags added in watercolour to index tabs along fore margins, water-staining, concomitant fraying to lower outer corners of outer leaves, original limp marbled boards, paper lifting or perished through water-damage, folio Instructions for the Conduct of the Ships of War, [no date], 43 pp., woodcut diagrams in text, original marbled boards, folio Instructions and Standing Orders for the Central Government and Discipline of the Ships of War, [no date], 15 pp., unbound, folio [Naval accounts book], 1782, approx. 22 pp. + numerous blanks, allocating proceeds from the capture of the French ships Duc de Chartres and the Trois Amis and the Spanish ship Santa Leocadia by George Darby (c.1720-1790, Henry D'Esterre's uncle), during the Siege of Gibraltar 'H D Darby's Acts of Parliament' [manuscript cover-title], 6 works in 1 volume, printed by C. Eyre and executors of William Strahan [-George Eyre and Andrew Strahan], 1792-6, stitched in sheet of contemporary printer's waste, folio (2 additional Acts of Parliament laid in, 4to) [Scrapbook of military and naval crests], mostly trimmed and mounted, bookplate of John Darby of Markly, Sussex, contemporary green half roan, 4to (Qty: 15)Significant and extensive collection of rare signal and instruction books used by Henry D'Esterre Darby (1749-1823), captain of HMS Bellerophon at the Battle of the Nile (1798), together with additional material with provenance to Darby, and several further signal books without indication of ownership but all similarly unsophisticated in their original bindings, including one accomplished throughout with flags in watercolour, and evidently used in maritime conditions (item 10). Darby was captain of HMS Adamant from 1794 to 1796, escorting shipping to West Indies and Mediterranean. He was appointed captain of the Bellerophon during the summer of 1796 and led her in the blockade of Cadiz before the confrontation with Napoleon's forces in the Bay of Abu Qir. The Bellerophon suffered heavy casualties and Darby was himself wounded. John Marshall, in his Royal Naval Biography (1823), declared that 'The undaunted magnanimity with which Captain Darby placed her alongside her mighty antagonist [l'Orient], excited at the moment the highest admiration, and must ever be the theme of eulogium'. In 1801 Darby captained the newly-built Spencer in the Algeciras campaign and returned to England in 1802 with the rank of commodore, with subsequent promotions up to full admiral by 1819, and a knighthood the following year. All such signal books and their accompanying instructions are highly uncommon, with officers enjoined to ensure their timely destruction 'so that they may not fall into the Hands of the Enemy, by the Capture or Loss of their Ships' (item 3, explanatory instructions, article X). Of the dated items numbers 2 and 4-8 in our listing are untraced in libraries. The National Maritime Museum and the Navy Department Library each has a different set of instructions for 1795 but neither collates with our copy (item 2). A single copy of item 3 is held by the Navy Department Library in Washington, D. C; ESTC (T136497) locates two copies of another set of signals for 1796 with a different collation, containing day and fog signals only, whereas our copy also contains night signals. ESTC (N41002) traces one copy only of a 1798 issue of item 5. Further manuscripts and papers from Darby's career are now found at Cambridge, the British Library, Brown University, and Boston Public Library (USA). Provenance: acquired by the vendor from Francis Edwards in the 1980s.
![Bindings.- [Butler (Samuel)] Hudibras, 2 vol., engraved portrait frontispiece and 16 plates, 5 folding, list of subscribers,](https://cdn.globalauctionplatform.com/5bb23b0a-2382-41b1-be5d-aa4600bda5e7/a449f450-f985-48cf-81f4-aa4600c91686/468x382.jpg)
