Robert Southey’s Life of Nelson 1813 — The Hagiographic Founding Text

Generated illustration. Not a historical photograph. A sailing fleet. Not a portrait.

Overview

@southey1813nelson is the citation card for the 1813 John Murray first edition. This note covers Southey’s own eulogy-manual claim only. Later reprints, Gutenberg’s undated metadata, and boyhood set-pieces stay contested or on RESEARCH_QUEUE.¹

The Eulogy-Manual

Southey opens the 1813 Life of Nelson by saying many lives have been written and one is still wanting: a manual for the young sailor. In attempting that work he will write the eulogy of the naval hero, because the best eulogy is a clear history of the actions.²

This is the hagiographic founding biography. Contested anecdotes in the book stay contested. The 1813 year is read on the first-edition title page, not from Gutenberg.

Sources

• @southey1813nelson

Related

Navigation

• MOC_Legacy_Historiography
• Historiography_Index

Same Subject

• @southey1813nelson
• Nelson Horatio — Biography Overview
• @beatty1807nelson

Cross-Domain

• Q — Did Nelson really say “blind eye” at Copenhagen
• Nelson as National Saint — Trafalgar Myth
• Age of Sail — Era Overview

Footnotes

1. Title page of vol. 1, 1813 John Murray edition, read on Internet Archive lifenelson05soutgoog and cihm_48232: “THE LIFE OF NELSON. BY ROBERT SOUTHEY … LONDON: PRINTED FOR JOHN MURRAY … 1813.” @southey1813nelson. ↩

2. Opening of vol. 1, before Chapter I: “In attempting such a work, I shall write the eulogy of our great naval Hero; for the best eulogy of Nelson is the faithful history of his actions.” @southey1813nelson. Do not invent a later edition year, an ISBN, or a page count. ↩