Antique 'A Narrative of the Loss of the Royal George' Book, Relic 1840 Col. Pasley's Wreck Dive

First edition 

A TRUE STORIES OF H.M. SHIP ROYAL GEORGE FROM 1746 TO 1841, of 108 Guns, Sunk at Spithead, August 29th, 1782; With a Concise Account of the Colonel Pasley's Operations on the Wreck in 1839 & 1840

Very rare and valuable !

Dated 1840

Bound with wooden boards made from timbers salvaged from the wreck of the Royal George

Gilt page edges

E. & E. Emanuel - Portsmouth, wood-engraved to a plate cover. 

3 plates, marbled endpapers

82 pages

11cm x 7cm x 1.25cm

Handwritten inscription to the inside page: Lady Moriarty, presented by her friend Wm (William) Fislice or Frilieu - Liverpool, June 9th 1942 (or something to this effect!)

Image of Rear Admiral Richard Kempenfelt, to the inside cover.

Condition: Average - Some tape repairs to the wood plates plus, some cracks and elements missing. Deterioration and rips to some of the pages and the spine.

Published by John Miller - Portsmouth 

The concise history of the H.M.S. Royal George, bound with wood from the ship, to the boards. . A work accounting the life of the H.M.S. Royal George, a first rate gun ship in the Royal Navy. 

The Royal George,108 guns, the oldest first-rate in the Navy, was anchored at harbour where she was hove down for minor repair. The officer of the day refused to heed a seaman who warned him that the ship was taking in water through the ports. The ship sank as she took in water, and went to the bottom with 1200 people on board, including 250 women and children; nearly 900 of them drowned, including Admiral Kempenfeldt. The Royal George was launched in 1751, and had served as the flagship for Anson, Boscawen, Hawke, Rodney, and Howe. Her hull was finally broken up by exploding gunpowder in 1839-41. (Huntress). After the recovery of the timbers from the wreck by Colonel Pasley, they were sold to E. & E. Emanuel (Goldsmiths to the Queen) who reworked them into 'Genuine Relics of the Royal George', i.e. Carved Chairs, Tables, Work Boxes, Walking Sticks, Ink Stands

The ship sunk in 1782, when it was anchored at Spithead to take supplies to go and relieve Gibraltar. The ship sank and lost more than eight hundred lives. In this work, the anonymous authors recount the sinking of this ship. The author also talks about Major-General Charles Paisley's 1839 attempt to clear the wreckage of the ships. His operation included breaking up the wreck using barrels of gunpowder. Illustrated with a frontispiece, and three plates. 

Nautical box 9