Nelson's Letters on View at Sotheby's London from Trafalgar Day
More than 400 letters and documents, many in Nelson's own hand, are on public view in New Bond Street before they are sold as a single lot.
Sotheby's is offering the Clive Richards collection, Nelson, His Life and His Navy, as a single lot in London, with bidding open from 21 October to 18 November 2026. The papers are on free public view at Sotheby's New Bond Street on weekdays from 21 to 28 October.
What is on offer
Sotheby's opened bidding on 21 October 2026, Trafalgar Day, on Nelson, His Life and His Navy: The Clive Richards Collection of Letters and Manuscripts. The whole collection is offered as one lot in London, and bidding closes on 18 November, according to Sotheby's.
According to IanVisits, the collection holds 415 letters, documents and manuscripts, of which 168 are letters written by Nelson to naval officers, politicians, his family and Emma Hamilton. They follow his career through Bastia, Cape St Vincent, the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar. Some were written as he taught himself to write with his left hand after losing his right arm in 1797, and in one he describes himself as lacking "the hand of a ready writer". IanVisits gives the estimate as £4 million to £6 million.
The collector
The papers were gathered over about forty years by Clive Richards, a collector and philanthropist who died in 2021. According to IanVisits, Sotheby's describes it as the greatest collection of Nelson papers in private hands today.
How to see it
The collection is on public view at Sotheby's, New Bond Street, from 21 to 28 October, Monday to Friday, 9am to 4.30pm, and closed at weekends, according to IanVisits.
The Mozeris view: Nelson and Georgian jewellery
Nelson's death at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 was mourned nationally, and it left a mark on the jewellery of the period. Memorial rings, lockets and brooches were made in his honour, and Georgian mourning jewellery more widely, with hair work, enamel and inscriptions, became part of everyday life.
For any Georgian piece, interest rests on a few things: whether it is genuinely of the period, whether inscriptions and dates are original, the condition of enamel and glass, and any documented link to a person or event. A family story is worth writing down, but evidence such as engraving, papers or a known provenance is what carries weight.
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Mozeris Fine Antiques is a dealer in fine jewellery, watches and silver, with offices in Mayfair, London, and Braintree, Essex. We buy and sell, and offer free valuations. Visits are by appointment.
- Sotheby's, Nelson, His Life and His Navy: The Clive Richards Collection of Letters and Manuscripts, London, 21 Oct to 18 Nov 2026
- IanVisits, "Rare chance to see Nelson's letters before £6 million auction"
Details as published by Sotheby's and IanVisits. The sale is still open; this article reports what is offered, not a result. Mozeris Fine Antiques is not connected with Sotheby's. No auction-house images are used.
