Admiral Lord Nelson

A Bibliography

For scholars interested in the life of Lord Nelson, there is a wealth of material both scholarly and popular.


Primary Sources

Beatty, Sir William, The Authentic Narrative of the Death of Lord Nelson. 1807

The detailed account of Nelson's death, by the surgeon of the Victory who attended him, was originally printed shortly after the Admiral's death. Although the original version is not easily available, it has been reprinted in numerous collections of primary source materials.

Knight, Cornelia. The Autobiography of Miss Cornelia Knight. 1861.

Nelson, Horatio, Viscount Nelson of the Nile and Duke of BrontĀŽ. The Dispatches and Letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas, ed. London: Henry Colburn. 1845. 7 vol.

This is an absolutely indispensable source for research on the life and career of Lord Nelson. Fortunately, it is once again back in print, and available at a reasonable cost, so there is no excuse for any scholar of Lord Nelson not to possess the complete set.

_______. Nelson's Last Diary. Oliver Warner, ed. London: Seely Service. 1971.

This slender volume is particularly of interest because it includes not only a typeset transcript of the diary Lord Nelson kept from his final departure from Merton to his death, but also a facsimile of the actual pages in Lord Nelson's own handwriting. This allows some interesting comparisons, for instance in dealing with the memorandum in which Nelson makes a personal mention of the fabled "Nelson touch" -- Warner's transcript renders it as "trunk," but the original is clearly "touch," and any other reading is exceedingly difficult to justify.

_______. Nelson's Letters to his Wife and other Documents 1785-1831. George B. P. Naish, ed. London: Navy Records Society. 1958.

This volume contains a large number of letters not included in the Harris compilation, in particular letters of a personal nature addressed to Fanny, later Lady Nelson. It is particularly of interest because it allows us to trace the growing distance in his relationship with his wife as he grew steadily more involved with Lady Hamilton.

Secondary Sources

Acton, Harold. The Bourbons of Naples. London, 1957.

Allardyce, Alexander. Admiral Lord Keith. London, 1882.

Allen, Joseph. The Life of Viscount Nelson. London, 1853.

Anson, W. V. The Life of John Jervis, Admiral Lord St. Vincent. London, 1913.

Badham, F. P. Nelson andRuffo. London, 1905.

________. Nelson at Naples: A Journal for June10-30, 1799. London, 1900.

Baily, J. T. Herbert. Emma, Lady Hamilton: A Biographical Essay with a Catalogue of her Published Portraits.. London, 1905.

Barker, M. H. The Life of Nelson. London, 1836.

Bennet, Geoffrey. The Battle of Trafalgar. London, 1977.

_______. Nelson the Commander. London: B. T. Batsford 1972.

Berchman, Evelyn. Nelson's Dear Lord: A Portrait of St. Vincent. London, 1962.

Beresford, Lord Charles and H. W. Wilson. Nelson and his Times. London, 1897-8.

Bonnet, Stanley. The Price of Admiralty: An Indictment of the Royal Navy, 1805-1966. London: Robert Hale 1968.

An essential source for anyone wishing to examine how reliance on past glories can lead to the decay of an organization.

Bowen, Marjorie. Patriotic Lady: A Study of Emma, Lady Hamilton and hte Neapolitan Revolution of 1799. London, 1935.

Bradford, Ernle. Nelson: The Essential Hero. London: Macmillan 1977.

Broadley, A. M. and R. G. Bartelot. Nelson's Hardy: His Life, Letters and Friends London, 1909.

Browne, G. Lathom. Nelson, the Public and Private Life of Horatio, Viscount Nelson as Told by Himself, His Comrades and His Friends. London, 1891.

Bryant, Arthur. Nelson. London, 1970.

________. The Years of Endurance, 1793-1802. London, 1942.

________. The Years of Victory, 1802-1812. London, 1944.

Bugler, Arthur. H.M.S. Victory: Buidling, Restoration and Repair. (2 vols). London, 1966.

Callender, Sir Geoffrey. The Story of H.M.S. Victory London, 1914.

Capes, Ranalt. Poseidon: A personal Study of Admiral Lord Nelson London, 1947.

Chamberlain, W. H. Reminiscences of Old Merton. London, 1923.

Charnock, John. Biographical Memoirs of Lord Viscount Nelson. London, 1806.

________. Biographia Navalis. (6 vols). London, 1794-8.

Clarke, James and John M'Arthur, The Life and Services of Horatio Viscount Nelson. 1807.

Corbett, Sir Julian, The Campaign of Trafalgar. 1840.

________. Fighting Instructions: Nelson's Tactical Memoranda. London, 1905.

Cowie, Leonard W. Lord Nelson, 1758-1805: A Bibliography. Westport, 1990.

D'Auvergne, Edmund B. Dear Emma: The Story of Emma, Lady Hamilton, Her Husband and Her Lovers. London, 1936.

Drinkwater, Col. John, A Narrative of the Battle of Cape St. Vincent 1840.

Edinger, George and E. J. C. Neep. Horatio Nelson. London, 1930.

Fenwick, Kenneth. H.M.S. Victory. London, 1959.

Fenwick, Kenneth, editor. Southey's Life of Nelson. London: The Folio Society 1956.

An edited re-issue of the classic, which includes an interesting foreword and introduction by the editor.

Fitchett, W. H. Nelson and his Captains: Sketches of Famous Seamen. London, 1902.

Fitzgerald, Percy. The Life and Times of William IV (2 vols). London, 1884.

Fothergill, Brian, Sir William Hamilton. 1969.

Fraser, Flora, Beloved Emma. 1986.

Gamlin, Hilda, Nelson's Friendships. 1899.

Gerin, Winifred, Horatia Nelson. 1970.

A biography of Lord Nelson's beloved daughter, it deals unsparingly with the privations Horatia endured as a result of Lady Hamilton's inability to manage money, and the humiliation to which she was subjected by her uncle the Earl Nelson.

Giglioli, Constance, Naples in 1799: An Account of the Revolution of 1799 and the Rise and Fall of the Parthenopean Republic. 1903.

Gill, Edward. Nelson and the Hamiltons on Tour. Gloucester, 1987.

Gore, John. Nelson's Hardy and His Wife London, 1935.

Gutteridge, H. C., ed. Nelson and the Neapolitan Jacobins: Documents Relating to the Suppression of the Jacobin Revolution at Naples. 1903.

Hardwick, Mollie. Emma Lady Hamilton: A Study. London, 1969.

Harris, Nathaniel. The Nelsons: The Family of Horatio Nelson. London, 1977.

Harrison, James, The Life of the Rt. Hon. Horatio Viscount Nelson 1806.

Hattersley, Roy. Nelson. London, 1974.

Hewitt, James. ed. Eyewitnesses to Nelson's Battles. Reading, 1972.

Hibbert, Christopher. Nelson: A Personal History. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley. 1994.

Hodgkin, Louis. Nelson and Bath. Corsham: The Nelson Society, 1991.

Hough, Richard. Nelson London, 1980.

Howarth, David. Trafalgar: The Nelson Touch. London, 1969.

A study of the battle and its tactical and strategic significance.

Howarth, David and Stephen Howarth. Lord Nelson: The Immortal Memory. New York: Viking 1988.

Isaacson, Cecil J. Nelson's 'Five Years on the Beach' and the Other Horatio Nelson of Burnham Thorpe. Fakenham, 1991.

An often-overlooked period in Nelson's life, his period of inactivity proves in fact to be quite formative of his later character.

Jagger, Rev. J.E. Lord Nelson's Love and Life at Merton Surrey Record Office, n.d.

James, William. The Naval History of Great Britain. 1826.

James, Admiral Sir William, The Durable Monument: Horatio Nelson. 1948.

Jeaffreson, John Cordy. Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson (2 vols) London, 1887.

________. The Queen of Naples and Lord Nelson (2 vols.) London, 1889.

Jowett, Evelyn M. An Illustrated History of Merton and Morden. London, 1951.

Keate, E.M. Nelson's Wife. 1939.

Keegan, John. The Price of Admiralty: War at Sea from Man of War to Submarine. London: Hutchinson 1988.

Kennedy, Ludovic. Nelson's Band of Brothers. 1951

________. Nelson and his Captains. London, 1975.

A revised edition of the previous entry

Kerr, Admiral Mark. The Sailor's Nelson. London, 1932.

Kircheisen, Friederich M. Nelson: The Establishment of British World Dominion. London, 1931.

Laughton, Sir John Knox. The Nelson Memorial: Nelson and His Companions in Arms. London, 1896.

Lavery, Brian. Nelson's Navy: The Ships, Men and Organization, 1793-1815. London, 1989.

Mahan, Alfred Thayer. The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783. Boston: Little, Brown 1990.

The naval equivalent of Clausewitz's On War, an absolute essential for any person wishing to understand Nelson and his battles in the larger context of the Napoleonic Wars.

________. The Life of Nelson. 1897.

Perhaps the most technically involved of any analyses of the naval career of Lord Nelson, written by the man who literally wrote the book about sea power and its role in history.

Matcham, E. Eyre. The Nelsons of Burnham Thorpe. 1911

Minto, Countess of (ed.) The Life and Letters of Sir Gilbert Elliot, First Earl of Minto. 1874.

Moorhouse, E. Hallam, Nelson in England. 1913.

Morrison, Alfred, (ed.). The Hamilton and Nelson Papers. 1893-4.

Oman, Carola. Nelson. 1947.

Parsons, G. S. Nelsonia Reminiscences. 1843.

Pettigrew, Thomas. Memoirs of the Life of Vice-Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson. 1849.

Pocock, Tom. Horatio Nelson. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. 1988.

________. Nelson and His World. 1968.

________. Remember Nelson: The Life of Captain Sir William Hoste. 1977.

________. The Young Nelson in the Americas. 1980.

Pope, Dudley. Decision at Trafalgar. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott, 1960.

________. The Great Gamble. New York: Simon and Schuster 1972.

Pugh, P. D. Gordon. Nelson and His Surgeons. 1968.

Rathbone, Philip. Paradise Merton. 1973.

Rawson, Geoffrey (ed). Nelson's Letters from the Leeward Islands. 1953.

Russell, Jack. Nelson and the Hamiltons. 1969.

Sichel, Walter, Emma, Lady Hamilton. 1905.

Southey, Robert. The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson. 1813.

The original standard source on Nelson, albeit hagiographic.

Tours, Hugh. The Life and Letters of Emma Hamilton. 1963.

Warner, Oliver. The Battle of the Nile. 1960.

________. Nelson's Battles. New York: Macmillan 1965.

________. A Portrait of Lord Nelson. 1965.

________. The Life and Letters of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood. 1969.


Last updated October 26, 2014.