Naval Engagement Between the Buenos Ayrean and Brazilian Fleets in 1827 & 1828. Dedicated to Admiral Brown.

New York: Lithographed and Published by A.I. Imbert, 104 Broadway, 1829. First number. Folio, half red morocco with marbled paper over boards, recently re-backed, original red morocco ownership label on front cover, reading “Henderson. Otis” in gilt within gilt ornamental border. Title leaf, 1 p., 6 lithographic plates, tissue guards.

An exceptionally rare volume of early American lithographs depicting the sea-fighting exploits of George Colman De Kay as commander of the General Brandzen in the service of the Argentine Republic during the Argentine-Brazilian War in the 1820s.

De Kay (1802-1849) was born in or near New York City to sea captain George De Kay and his wife Catherine (Colman) De Kay. Following the untimely deaths of his parents, he was put at school in Connecticut, but eventually slipped away and went to sea on a merchantman. By the age of twenty he was a ship captain and familiar with a variety of foreign ports. He arrived in Buenos Aires in 1826, where he found the Brazilians blockading the Rio de la Plata—a phase in the ongoing dispute between the Argentine Republic and Brazilian Empire over the province that would eventually become Uruguay. De Kay offered his services to the Argentinians “and was intrusted by Admiral [William] Brown with the command of the Brandzen, a brig of eight guns with a motley crew of Americans, Irish, Scotch, and a few South Americans” (DAB). Soon thereafter, De Kay successfully ran the blockade and engaged two Brazilian men-of-war, capturing one of them. The following year (1827) he embarked on a cruise up the coast of South America, engaging and defeating several Brazilian men-of-war between June and September, most notably overtaking the brig Cacique at Pernambuco, despite being heavily outmanned and outgunned. Following these actions, De Kay continued sailing north as far as New York, before returning to Argentina. In September of 1828, De Kay commanded the vanguard of the defense of the Rio de la Plata against the Brazilian fleet under Admiral Norton, during which he was forced to scuttle the General Brandzen.

This series of six lithographs illustrates these actions as well as the final attack of the Brazilian squadron “prior to the peace,” as narrated by De Kay in the extracts from his journal included here. Three of the plates are credited to J. M. Roberts, and those lacking credits appear to be his work as well. Roberts does not appear in any of the standard biographical dictionaries of American artists, perhaps suggesting that these lithographs are based on sketches he made while serving under De Kay. Identified as the ‘First Number” on the title page, we find no evidence that any other numbers were ever issued.

Anthony Imbert (1774-1834) was a marine painter and a pioneer of American lithography. Originally a French naval officer, he took up marine painting while imprisoned in England and subsequently settled in New York, establishing his lithographic firm in 1825, which lasted until his death. Imbert is best remembered for the lithographs he produced for Cadwallader Colden’s Memoir of the Erie Canal as well as a series of views of New York City subjects after designs by Alexander Jackson Davis.

Exceptionally rare. No copies recorded in OCLC, American Book Prices Current (1975 to present), or Rare Book Hub. A google search uncovers a single copy of a variant issue (lacking the words ‘First Number’ on the title-page, but with the same content), at the Mariner’s Museum in Newport News.

REFERENCES: Dictionary of American Biography (NY, 1930), Vol. V, pp. 202-203; Groce, George C. and David H. Wallace. The New-York Historical Society’s Dictionary of Artists in America 1564-1860, p. 339.