George Monck, Duke of Albemarle

Stipple engraving by F[rancesco] Bartolozzi, 'from the original picture painted by Micheal Wright ... 1667'. Published October 1796 by C. Bestland, West-end, Hampstead.

Image size: 8 3/8" x 7 1/8" approx. Plus title and margins.

Generally very good condition throughout.

George Monck was born in 1608, the son of an impoverished Devon gentleman. He rose to power as an exceptional commander both on land and at sea. Not only this, he did so with an ingenious ability to navigate the complex and often treacherous waters that characterise English politics of the early and mid-seventeent century, serving consecutively the Stuarts, Parliamentary and Protectorate forces before returning his allegience to Charles II at the time of the restoration in 1660. At sea he is accredited with devising the formation of line-of-battle tactics, which, for better or worse, would dominate the Royal Navy's fighting strategy for well over a century. On land, his legacy can still be seen in the form of the Coldstream Guards, the only regiment originating in Cromwell's New Model Army, disbanded in 1661, to survive to this day. Monck died on 3 January 1670.

£95.00 Unmounted/unframed.