Captain Edward Rotheram’s 'Encyclopedia Britannia' damaged at Trafalgar – £6500 at Charles Miller. It is shown with other Rotheram lots in the auction.
It was Captain Edward Rotheram’s own copy, present in his cabin in HMS Royal Sovereign where it received damage and scorching during the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 when “an enemy’s shot pass’d thro’ the shelf”.
The frontispiece of the 1797 edition is inscribed by Rotheram stating that this book be “Preserved as a relic of that memorable day with the persuasion that into whose ever hands it may fall that its value & respect may be held in estimation…”
Coming to auction by descent, it sold for £6500 (guide £2000-3000) at the April 27 sale.
