The Grand Funeral Car of Lord Horatio Nelson, a broadside 1806

[NELSON, Lord Horatio] A perspective view of the grand funeral car which carried the body of the much lamented Lord Nelson, from the Admiralty to St Pauls, in great procession, on the 9th January, 1806.
 
London, published Jan. 14th, 1806, by N. Heideloff, No. 12, Norfolk Street; printed by Vogel, 13 Poland Street, Oxford Street.
 
Broadside, approx. 380 x 240 mm, hand-coloured engraved illustration above printed descriptive text and verse. Laid down on later card backing. Creasing throughout, with several tears and splits (notably centre left and upper centre), edges worn with small losses; some light spotting; nevertheless complete. Good. 
 
A contemporary commemorative broadside depicting Nelson’s funeral car, issued within days of the state funeral of January 1806. The large engraved image shows the elaborate hearse designed in the form of a ship, adorned with trophies and inscriptions including ‘Trafalgar’, ‘L’Orient’, and ‘San Josef’, visually encapsulating Nelson’s naval victories. Beneath, a detailed printed description explains the iconography and symbolism of the car, together with a poetic elegy to Nelson.
 
So moves the corpse upon the trophied bier,
Mourned by his king! embalmed with Englands tear!
To that famed church that lifts its towering head
The future mansion of the patriot dead!
The hero's manes there in peace shall rest, 
while his loved image lives in every breast. 
 
Such broadsides were produced in the immediate aftermath of Trafalgar and Nelson’s death, but survival is comparatively uncommon given their ephemeral nature. A striking and decorative Trafalgar item, issued within days of Nelson’s funeral.