Description:

Henry Dilkes Byng
various, ca. 1809-1814
Henry Dilkes Byng Manuscript Letter Book Used Aboard HMS Bream & HMS Goree, 1809-1814
Books
Henry Dilkes Byng manuscript letter book used during his service aboard the HMS Bream and HMS Goree. Quarto, 140 pages, various, dated ca. 1809-1814. The book has been used tête-bêche style, with handwritten copies of letters sent beginning on the first pages of front of the volume, while copies of letters received begin on the first pages of back of the volume. Several copies of letters have been tipped in. Bound in full vellum with handwritten ink titling to both covers. Boards are significantly warped, soiled, and stained, with a cut to the vellum at the lower edge of the front board. The text block is moderately toned with scattered foxing. A section of 64 blank pages in the center of the volume separates the two portions of the text.

Henry Dilkes Byng (1781-1860) was a British naval officer who ultimately attained the rank of Vice-Admiral. In July 1809, when the first letters in this volume were written, Byng was appointed commander of HMS Bream. The following year, he was given command of HMS Goree; he retained this position through 1814, the year of the final letters in this volume.

Byng appears to have been tasked with bringing Goree north to the port at Halifax from the Caribbean, where it had been used (under another commander) in the 1809 British invasion of Martinique. En route to Halifax in the summer of 1810, the Goree was ordered to pause at Amelia Island in Florida to defend British trading interests there. Some correspondence in the volume reflects the volatility of Florida's political situation at the time.

Although the letters are primarily focused on the bureaucracy of operating a naval vessel (the payment or withholding of wages, the obtaining and storing of provisions, and the transmission of orders), Byng occasionally provided political observations. In a letter dated July 7, 1811, he wrote: "I have received no information hitherto that leads me to suppose the Americans are disposed for Hostilities being convinced their Country is on that state that in the event of a War a division of the Union would take place--and the greatest proportion of their Citizens...[would] side with us." On October 2, 1812, the Goree captured the American USS Ranger; correspondence relating to the American prisoners taken at this time is included in this volume.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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