James FITTLER (London 1758 - Turnham Green 1835) "The glorious victory obtained over the French Fleet by the British Fleet under the command of Earl Howe on the First of June 1794" Original etching with burin retouches and dotted pattern, from a subject by Philipp James de Loutherbourg (1740 - 1812), published in London by Cribb and de Mechel in 1799. Fine copy printed on eighteenth-century laid paper bearing the watermark "Crowned two-headed eagle" and literal countermark of the French paper mill of Dupuy Auvergne , similar to Heawood 1317, referable to French paper production of the 18th century, complete with the imprint of the slab and with small margins at some point absent, uniformly burnished and with various short tears along the edges that were formerly restored on the verso, but overall in good general condition. The original painting of Loutherbourg is found today in the collections of the National Maritime Museum of Greenwich, it represents the first and most intense naval conflict between the fleet of the Kingdom of Great Britain and that of the First French Republic on the Atlantic Ocean, four hundred nautical miles to off the island of Ushant. For a brief description of the battle of June 1, see the page dedicated to it by the National Maritime Museum of Greenwich. The description of a specimen like ours in the Richmond House collections is attached. Bibliography Bibliografia Bryan's Dictionary of Painters and Engravers London 1903 vol.II pag. 169. Heawood "Monumenta chartae papyraceae" Hilversum 1986 No. 1317. Slater "Engravings and their value" London 1912 p. 359. http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/facts/faqs/royal-navy-and-battles/what-was-the-battle-of-the-glorious-first-of- june http://www.gac.culture.gov.uk/work.aspx?obj=12844 Measurements in mm: 592 x 820 (the sheet)