c1860s HANDWRITTEN MANUSCRIPT MOURNING NOTE BY THE YOUNG CHILD COUSIN OF C.G. 'CHINESE' GORDON AND DOOMED FUTURE CREWMEMBER OF THE HMS CAPTAIN

On offer is an original handwritten manuscript letter, exceedingly scarce autograph of Harry (Henry William) Gordon [1854-1870] a British navy man who drowned on the HMS Captain when it sank in the Bay of Biscay in 1870. He was the nephew of C.G. "Chinese" Gordon [1833-1885] of Khartoum fame. Extremely Rare Autograph Letter Signed, no date, 2pp. in pencil on mourning stationery. This is written to his mother when he was a child or very young. "I hope you are well. I know you are so sorry about dear little Enderby and I am so unhappy about him. I loved him so I used to have him to play with him and now I shall have no one left." HMS Captain was a unique ship commissioned by the Royal Navy. She was a revolutionary masted turret ship of some originality, launched in 1869 and capsized the following year with the loss of nearly 500 lives because of design flaws that led to inadequate stability. Though signed in first name only "Harry" the author of this letter is identified because of the original source of papers it came from. VG.; English; 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall; ROYAL NAVY, NAVAL, SHIPWRECK, SINKING, BRITAIN, ENGLAND, AUTOGRAPH, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, antiquité, contrat, vélin, document, manuscrit, papier Antike, Brief, Pergament, Dokument, Manuskript, Papier oggetto d'antiquariato, atto, velina, documento, manoscritto, carta antigüedad, hecho, vitela, documento, Manuscrito, HANDWRITTEN, MANUSCRIPT, DOCUMENT, LETTER, AUTOGRAPH, DIARY, JOURNAL, LOG, KEEPSAKE, WRITER, HAND WRITTEN, DOCUMENTS, SIGNED, LETTERS, MANUSCRIPTS, HISTORICAL, HOLOGRAPH, WRITERS, DIARIES, JOURNALS, LOGS, AUTOGRAPHS, PERSONAL, MEMOIR, MEMORIAL, PERSONAL HISTORY,