Godfrey Phillips 1936 series of 50 Famous Minors feature coloured portraits of celebrated men and women who achieved fame whilst "under age" before they were twenty-one - and an interesting bunch they are, including the likes of W.G. Grace, Napoleon, George Washington, Isaac Newton, Dick Whittington and John Cornwell the boy V.C. This gallant-hearted minor, we are told on the card back, "was serving as a sight-setter on a warship in World Ward I when, despite being mortally wounded he stayed at his post with the gun crew dead around him because he thought he might be needed." In the tradition of Nelson's famous signal "England expects" young John Cornwell had done his duty. Nelson is also included in the set and we learn that by the age of 12 he was enduring the hardship of his first voyage. He was to become ?the greatest sea captain the world has ever known, saving England from invasion, triumphing in the Battle of Trafalgar a victory bought at the price of death, his last words being "Thank God I have done my duty. Size 68 x 36mm

Number of cards in set: 50