#MD19
1818-1838
Five documents from one to four pages pp. The documents range in size from octavo to folio. The letters and documents are all in very good condition.
The five autograph letters signed and documents include: A request for an audience with the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding an urgent and important matter. An invitation on printed letterhead dated 24 April 1838 and Signed W.S.S.. Printed naval pass signed by William Sidney Smith with an official Ottoman stamp and by the order of John Keith. A Letter dated Paris 9 th of April 1835 to "Tres Noble Frere" discussing an English Embassy. A Letter dated Paris the 27th of August 1818 discussing the Siege of Gibraltar.
"Admiral Sir William Sidney Smith was the British admiral of whom Napoleon Bonaparte said, "That man made me miss my destiny"(Wikipedia). "Smith lived in Paris for much of the remainder of his life. Initially this was to escape his creditors. In 1811 he had been refunded £7375 for past expenses and, on petitioning government from Paris, his pension was doubled..,He was invested with the KCB in December 1815 and attained the rank of admiral on 19 July 1821. In Paris he formed the order of ‘knights liberators’ to campaign for the release of Christian slaves from captivity in the piratical states of north Africa. With characteristic enthusiasm, he continued to request naval employment" (Oxford DNB).
