An admiral revered, an admiral shot

Though blessed with means of communication beyond the comprehension of anyone of Nelson’s navy – superior by far to signal beacons, semaphore and speeding sloops and cutters – an unfortunate breakdown in these modern methods meant that the two Nelson items featured in last week’s reports were not joined by what proved to be the star turn in a Lyon & Turnbull sale of February 1.

Sold for £42,000 in Edinburgh was a brief, unsigned note in which Nelson gives thanks for his "perfe…

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