Cornè, Michele Felice “Capture of the Essex"

Michele Felice Cornè (1752–1845). “Capture of the Essex.”  From The Naval Monument, Containing Official and Other Accounts Of All The Battles Fought Between the Navies of the United States and Great Britain During The Late War. 

Boston: A. Bowen, 1816.  First edition.  ca. 4 x 7 3/4.  Wood engraving by Bowen.  Very good condition. 

The most stirring and, for the United States, successful action during the War of 1812 were fought by the young U.S. Navy.  With glorious victories on Lake Champlain, Lake Erie and on the high seas, the captains and ships of the U.S. Navy were the greatest heroes to come out of this war.  The demand by the military and the public for information and illustrations of these battles and figures was satisfied by the publication, in 1816–shortly after the war ended–of The Naval Monument.  This included descriptions of the naval battles fought during the war, along with twenty five illustrations of those battles, produced in both copper and wood engravings.  These are some of the best contemporary images of these battles and this combined with the scarcity of these prints makes them most desirable.