Hilare Knight, née Barlow, later Countess Nelson and Duchess of Brontë (d.1857), her copies
Book of Common Prayer [and:] Proper Lessons to be read at Morning and Evening Prayer
£328
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 21 June 2023 at 11:00 BST
Description
Oxford: University Press, 1834. 2 works, 48mo (10.5 x 5.8cm), contemporary blue velvet, brass coping, clasps and catches, brass escutcheons to covers, engraved with titles ('Prayer' and 'Lessons') on front and with owner's name 'Hilare' and two coronets (earl and duke) on rear, all edges gilt, blue moiré silk doublures, ink inscriptions 'Easter Day, April 19th 1835' on title-pages, housed in a contemporary dual-compartment morocco slipcase with flap
Footnote
Note: Hilare Knight was the daughter of Admiral Sir Robert Barlow. She was first married to a cousin, Captain George Ulric Barlow, in 1817. He died in 1824 and in 1829 she married the much older and recently widowed Reverend William Nelson (1757-1835), brother of Horatio, upon whose death in 1805 he (William) had been created first earl Nelson (Horatio himself having only ever been a viscount) as well as inheriting the Sicilian dukedom of Brontë. After William's death, Hilare, now styled the dowager Countess Nelson, married George Thomas Knight (1795-1867), nephew of Jane Austen, being the son of Austen's brother Edward Knight, and in his day a noted cricketer. Hilare was profiled in the May 1836 issue of The Court Magazine. A silver teapot which belonged to William Nelson showing both his earl's and ducal coronets is held by the Royal Museums Greenwich (catalogue number PLT0098).