Framed war-date Autographed Letter Signed with fine content by NELSON, Horatio [1st Viscount Nelson, 1st Duke of Bronte] (1758 - 1805) - 1803

1803. unbound. 2 pages (front and back), written aboard his flagship Victory, Madalina, December 27, 1803, to J. Hookman Friere, England's Ambassador to the Court of Spain at Madrid. In a difficult-to-read handwriting, we transcribe the following, in part: "...The King being done...Malta has reduced me to seven sail of the line...therefore I have left it to the Kings pleasure to send me the Gibraltar...and so entirely do I wish it up to the King that I request your Excellency will not urge it...We have had a most severe winter it has almost knocked me up. I have been very ill and now far from recovered. I wait? to the battle is over when I must recruit myself for some future exertion. I hear there is a letter from England waiting for me with directions from Portsmouth. I have not a scratch of news to tell you for we hear none. I am forever my dear sir, your most obedient servant. P.S. - Dr Scotts very well - perhaps he will go to Naples." Signed "Nelson & Bronte." The letter is set on a beige linen matte in a double-sided brown and gold wooden frame. The front of the letter, including the accompanying blank page, measures 9.25 x 14.5 inches. The portion of the letter showing on the back measures 6.5 x 7.25 inches. The outer measurements of the frame are 12.5 x 17.75 inches. The letter is in very good(+) condition with natural folds and slight discoloration in several spots. Vice Admiral and Commander in Chief of the Mediterranean fleet during the Napoleonic Wars. He is best remembered for his Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar, one of Great Britain's greatest naval triumphs during which he was fatally wounded aboard his flagship Victory. War-date letters written from his ship are the rarest and most desirable of Nelson's letters.