Item #4008043 The Lightning Galop. AUSTRALIA CLIPPER, Charles D'ALBERT.
The Lightning Galop.

The Lightning Galop.

London: Chappell, 50 New Bond Street, circa 1854.

Sheet music, 8 pp. and colour-lithograph cover.

Illustrated sheet music for a fast Austral clipper

A racy tune by the dance composer Charles d'Albert (1809-1886), this rare early sheet music features a particularly appealing coloured lithograph of the clipper Lightning, a vessel designed for the Australia trade and famous for making many fast passages in the mid-1850s.

A racy tune by the dance composer Charles d'Albert (1809-1886), this rare early sheet music features a particularly appealing coloured lithograph of the clipper Lightning, a vessel designed for the Australia trade and famous for making many fast passages in the mid-1850s.

Built by Donald McKay of Boston for James Baines of the "Black Ball Line" out of Liverpool, the Lightning was, as the name suggests, perilously quick, and has since been called an "extreme clipper": in 1854 the ship made the passage from London to Melbourne in very quick time under the demanding Captain "Bully" Forbes, infamous for running with the lee rail under water. Powerfully constructed with concave bows, Lightning had a good full midsection with tumblehome, making her fast yet stable with good sail-carrying ability. The ship was also lavishly decorated to entice wealthy passages to brave the passage to Australia. After some fifteen years on the Australia trade, Lightning was lost on 30 October 1869 at anchor in Geelong when a fire broke out on board. The shoals on which the clipper was ultimately scuttled became known as the "Lightning Shoals".

Although not dated, it is fair to assume that the music would have been composed in the hey-day of the clipper's fame. A copy is recorded in the collection of the National Library.

Condition Report: Margins browned, disbound with early stitch-sewing still largely intact.

Price (AUD): $1,400.00

US$919.77   Other currencies

Ref: #4008043

Condition Report