Britannia Crowned by Victory with Fame and the British Lion, 1816

An original antique engraving, colored by hand, lettered "FRONTISPIECE." above the image. Britannia sits enthroned in a blue gown and crimson mantle, wearing a plumed helmet and raising the trident in her right hand, with a scroll lettered MAGNA CHARTA in her left. A winged Victory in orange and yellow stands behind her and lowers a laurel wreath onto her helmet. At the left a maned lion sits beside her throne, and below, a boy in a winged helmet holding a caduceus stands behind a round shield painted with the crosses of the Union flag and lettered with battle names, among them AGINCOURT, NILE and TRAFALGAR. At the right a winged Fame in white and dark violet drapery holds a long trumpet aloft and points to the shield; the cannon beside her is lettered WATERLOO 1815. Cannon, armor and weapons lie in the foreground, with ships at sea at the far left. The faces are worked in stipple.

The caption below the image reads in full: "Britannia crowned by Victory, trampling upon the chains of France, holds in her right hand the Trident of Neptune, as Mistress of the Ocean, in her left hand Magna Charta, whilst Fame is proclaiming to the World the Glory of her Arms, by pointing to some of her principle Battles inscribed on her Shield, which is supported by the Genius of Commerce; beneath are the Emblems of antient and modern Warfare." The publication line reads "London. Published by Richd. Evans Whites Row, Spitalfields, 1816."

The plate was issued for The History of the Wars occasioned by the French Revolution by William Nicholson, LL.D., printed in London for Thomas Kelly of 17 Paternoster Row. Its title page promises biographical sketches of the public characters of Europe, with an account of the Congress of Vienna, the escape from Elba, Waterloo and the exile to Saint Helena. The plates carry their own engraved publication line naming Richard Evans of Whites Row, Spitalfields, London.

This is an original antique print, not a modern reproduction. This item is sold unframed.