Jun 12 at 12:00 PM - Sale 2708 -

Sale 2708 - Lot 20

Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 1,500
(AMERICAN REVOLUTION.) Fittler & Lerpinière, after Paton. The Memorable Engagement of . . . the Serapis with Paul Jones of the Bon Homme Richard. Hand-colored engraving, 20 x 25¼ inches, with titles and captions in English and French, restrike on 1828 Whatman paper; mat toning, mount remnants on verso, tipped to early 20th century mat on one edge. London: John Boydell, 12 December 1780 copyright (early restrike)

Additional Details

A British depiction of the Battle of Flamborough Head, one of the great American naval victories of the war, spinning the defeated HMS Serapis as having "saved the Baltic fleet under his convoy, tho' obliged to submit to a much superior force." It was this battle in which John Paul Jones is said to have uttered the immortal words "I have not yet begun to fight." This print shows the battered Serapis near the end of the fight, with two crew members clinging to the severed mast in the water.