'Barham' is shown in Malta harbour on 25 September 1833. The image also depicts a second vessel and several pinnaces.
This view is one from a series depicting the voyage between England and Constantinople, starting in 1831, which was of particular interest since one of the passengers was Sir Walter Scott. The writer has suffered a series of debilitating strokes and had been advised to seek warmer climes to recover. 'Barham' took Scott to Gibraltar and Malta before leaving him at Naples, from where he returned to Scotland overland to die at home in Abbotsford in 1832. At Constantinople they collected Sir Stratford Canning, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, who spent a decade on other postings before returning to Constantinople in 1842.
Inscribed on the back of the picture: "H. M. S. Barham in Malta Harbour. 25 Septr 1833".
This may be the original of one of a set of litographs by C. F. de Brocktorff after J. K. Willson.
Medium includes graphite.