Sep 29, 2022 - Sale 2615

Sale 2615 - Lot 322

Price Realized: $ 1,062
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 800 - $ 1,200
(SIMON BOLIVAR.) Correspondence on the last months of Bolívar and Gran Colombia, and on Bolívar's sword and cloak. 4 manuscript items in one folder; incomplete with moderate wear as noted. Various places, 1830-1861
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Additional Details

Benjamin Clement (1785-1835) was a captain in the Royal Navy (and an acquaintance of Jane Austen). In 1830, he was the captain of renowned HMS Shannon. These papers relate to his offer to help revolutionary hero Simón Bolívar seek exile in Jamaica, to the dissolution of Gran Colombia in 1830, and to Bolívar's sword and cloak which remained in the captain's possession.

"Memoranda for Capt. Clement," unsigned but apparently by Bolívar's aide-de-camp Colonel Belford Wilson. 7 [of 11?] pages, moderate wear including some loss from vermin, apparently missing a second sheet. "By an extraordinary courier that reached Bogotá a few hours previous . . . information was received of the south of Colombia having separated from the rest of the Republick . . . in consequence of the resolution of G'l Bolivar to resign the supreme command and leave the country altogether being made known. G'l Bolivar was the connecting link that had hitherto preserved the union." He describes military actions in the cities of Pasto and Cali, where "three hundred citizens armed themselves and refused to deliver up to G'l Obando the ammunition & stores they had in their city." General José María Obando, new governor of Socorro, is denounced for his role "in a plot to destroy the late Congress." The outlying departments of Colombia are now "prey to anarchy, divided among themselves & from the rest of the republick." As for Bolívar, his "intention is to sail for England so soon as his passport arrives from Bogotá," otherwise he "would have availed himself of Capt. Clement's kind offer for passage to Jamaica on board the HMS Shannon. He was most anxious to have done so." 28 May and 9 June 1830.

Partial letter to Capt. Clement, in the same hand, also apparently Colonel Belford Wilson. 4 pages but lacking the final pages and signature; partial separations at folds. "The untimely death of my late illustrious benefactor and your friend, the Liberator of Colombia, must have been deeply regretted by you. . . . I was greatly grieved to hear that you had unfortunately lost the military cloak presented to you by H.E. [His Excellency?] together with his sword, the last he ever used in defense of his country, of liberty, & of humanity." He also discusses "G'l Bolivar's letter to me" which "gives his motives for not profitting by your kind offer to convey him to Jamaica. Would to God he had done so. . . . I assure you, the Shannon was for a long time our hope, but fate prevented his return." The author discusses his recent convalescence in Jamaica under the care of Commodore Farquhar, which was widely reported in newspapers such as the Caledonian Mercury of 26 February 1831 (naming him as Belford Wilson). Kingston, Jamaica, 4 March 1831.

Letter from Capt. Clement's younger son William Thomas Clement (1820-1864) to elder son, the Rev. Benjamin Prowting Clement (1813-1873). 3 pages. "I am in correspondence with General Santa Cruz, Minister Plenipotentiary from the Bolivian government, relative to the sword of General Bolívar. . . . He speaks of it very kind of me to offer the sword to Bolivia. . . . Let me have all papers and letters . . . as I am certain there are some letters that passed about the sword & belt from Col. Wilson. . . . I mentioned to General Santa Cruz that you were in possession of Bolívar's cloak." Anstey, Alton [Hampshire, England], 11 April 1861.

Draft of a return letter from the Rev. Clement to his brother. 2 pages. "Respecting Bolívar's sword . . . we will collect all letters & papers at all likely to have reference to the subject. . . . I fear you will not find any about the sword or cloke." Winchester, England, 12 April 1861.