Original Naval Manuscript Prepared by Lieutenant William Andrew St John

An Interesting Original Naval Manuscript Prepared by Lieutenant William Andrew St John Representing his Naval Training at the Naval Academy at Portsmouth for an Officer in the British Fleet
Entitled ‘A Plan of Mathematical Learning Taught in the Royal Academy’ 520 pp illustrated with full page frontispiece 21 vignette illustrations of which 12 are original watercolours and 9 are original pen and ink wash drawings 4 full page and one large folding maps with outline colour 4 full page astronomical illustrations 1 full page compass rose and numerous small colour outline navigational charts all executed by Royal Naval Academy student William St John
Bound in contemporary English diced calf, multiple gilt tooled border fillets, gilt decorated spine in compartments
Portsmouth, England 1807
Size: 37cm high, 27.5cm wide – 14½ ins high, 10¾ ins wide
A career in the Navy was one open to talent unlike many in 18th and 19th century Britain. It was possible to rise through the ranks to the quarterdeck on merit alone, although the recruitment of most naval officers was based on patronage and family ties. Many young men, second or third sons of an aristocratic family with little money or estates joined the Navy, as this was the only profession, which did not require, and indeed did not allow, the application of money. Future officers were taken young and provided with a rigorous, free professional training with which they might rise to fame and fortune. Boys were often seized by a strong passion for a career at sea, and some as young as six were taken on board to ‘learn the ropes’ from the hands of an experienced ‘sea daddy’.
An officer in the Navy was however, required to be able to navigate and command as well as reef and steer and to this end the Royal Naval Academy 1733 – 1837 was established at Portsmouth Dockyard as a facility to train officers and in an attempt to improve their education. However, the sincere belief in the superiority of practical experience learned on board ship ensured that the officer class favoured the traditional model. King William IV demonstrated this in his remark ‘there was no place superior to the quarterdeck of a British man-of-war for the education of a gentleman’.

Original Naval Manuscript Prepared by Lieutenant William Andrew St John

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+44 (0)7836 684133

enquiries@finch-and-co.co.uk