COMBAT MEMORABLE ENTRE LE PEARSON ET PAUL JONES DONE LE 22 7BRE 1779. LE CAPITAINE PEARSON COMENDANT LE SERAPIS ET PAUL JONES COMMANDANT LE BON HOME RICHART ET SON ESCADRE [caption title].

[Jones, John Paul]: Leizelt, Balthasar Friedrich [engraved after Richard Paton]:

Verlag: Augsburg: Académie Imperiale D'Empire Des Arts Libereaux, [n.d., but ca. 1781].

Beschreibung

A striking vue d'optique copper engraving showing the famous Revolutionary War naval battle between the American ship, Bonhomme Richard, commanded by John Paul Jones, and the British Navy vessel, Serapis, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson. Certainly one of the bloodiest naval engagements of the Revolutionary War, the battle occurred on September 23, 1779, in the English Channel off Flamborough Head. Jones and his crew struggled valiantly against the forty-four guns of the Serapis, and although his own vessel was in ruins, Jones would still not accept the British demand for surrender, declaring, "I have not yet begun to fight." Later that day the Serapis surrendered to the American naval forces, but by that time the Bonhomme Richard was so extensively damaged that it couldn't be saved; she sank on September 25, 1779, with Jones sailing the damaged but seaworthy Serapis to Holland for a refit. Leizelt's engraving focuses on the Bonhomme Richard and the Serapis in close quarters, enveloped in smoke, with sailors thrown overboard during the heat of the battle clinging to the wreckage of a ship's mast floating on the water in the right foreground. Soon after the battle, London marine and naval artist, Richard Paton, created an oil painting of the action, which achieved success when this engraving of it by Balthasar Friedrich Leizelt was included among prints published in the series, Collection des Prospects. Cresswell suggests, however that Leizelt's image was "probably copied from Lerpiniere and Fittler's engraving, which was published by John Boydell in 1781." It should be noted that the date of the battle in the image caption is incorrect; Leizelt dates the battle "22 September" rather than 23 September in his caption of the engraving. The images in the Collection des Prospects series were intended to be projected by a zograscope, an optical device used to magnify flat pictures onto a mirror for viewing, which also enhanced the depth perception of the image for a viewer. Because the image of the Bonhomme Richard and Serapis would be ultimately viewed off of a mirror through the zograscope, Leizelt created a mirror image of the original painting. Since vue d'optique prints were painted in vivid colors before they were sold, this stunning black and white example of Combat memorable entre le Pearson et Paul Jones is the exception rather than the rule for vue d'optiques and is considered fairly rare for that reason. It also allows for an unvarnished view of the subtlety of the engraver's art. An engaging and lively view of a pivotal moment in American naval history, and uncommon in the market. AMERICAN NAVAL PRINTS 7. CRESSWELL 310. OCLC 968975131, 1390700451, 51122930, 51153015. Minor soiling to outer margins, otherwise clean and bright with rich tonality. A handsome copy. Framed.

Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 66058

Bibliografische Details

• Titel: COMBAT MEMORABLE ENTRE LE PEARSON ET PAUL JONES DONE LE 22 7BRE 1779. LE CAPITAINE PEARSON COMENDANT LE SERAPIS ET PAUL JONES COMMANDANT LE BON HOME RICHART ET SON ESCADRE [caption title].
• Verlag: Augsburg: Académie Imperiale D'Empire Des Arts Libereaux, [n.d., but ca. 1781].