342
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(WEST INDIES.)
On Admiral Bembo’s Death in theWest-Indies.
Broadside,
8
1
/
2
x 3
1
/
2
inches; laid down on modern board.
London: Jennings, circa 1802-09
[300/400]
Admiral John Benbow was the British hero of a 1702 naval battle with a French fleet, off
the coast of Colombia near Cape Santa Marta. Benbow was badly wounded, but continued
to fight while several of the captains under him retreated. His bravery was immortalized in a
folk song, of which countless varieties exist.This is one of the earliest printings. One copy in
WorldCat.
343
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(WEST INDIES.)
Memorial to the heroine of a Saint Thomas mail
steamer which was beset by yellow fever.
4 items, each artistically matted and bound
into a modern cloth presentation binder.
London and Southampton, England, January 1867
[200/300]
The British mail steamer La Plata sailed from St.Thomas in theWest Indies on 31 December
1866. Before the ship reached London three weeks later, 61 crew members had contracted
yellow fever, and 23 had died—including the ship’s physician. The ship’s stewardess Mrs.
Stokes acted as a nurse during the crisis, preventing an even greater disaster.
This small bound archive consists of a newspaper clipping on the disaster, two letters of
commendation to Mrs. Stokes from the crew, and a subscription list for the gift they presented
her upon reaching port.
WITH
—An 1844 letter fromAlice Stokes and 5 photographs mounted
on 2 cards, not bound in, but apparently related.
342