Five autograph letters from Lady Frances Herbert Nelson to her husband, Rear-Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, on his flagship HMS FOUDROYANT (1798) in the Mediterranean, sent from London between 26 December 1799 and 29 March 1800.

Lady Nelson writes of her son Josiah, family and friends, the ill health of Nelson’s father, the death of his aunt and her pleasure in receiving a visit from Captain Thomas Hardy. She tells Nelson that she is sending on Lady Hamilton’s box ‘which was to have been put in with your box’ and tells him to expect two sets of ‘The Battle of the Nile’. She also informs him that Mrs Damer wishes to paint his portrait. In the final letter, Lady Nelson expresses her delight at having heard from Nelson.