Auctioneers stuck with historic bill

A 205-year-old poster proclaiming Nelson's historic victory at Trafalgar failed to sell at a city auction.

The single sheet broadside - one of thousands sold for tuppence throughout Britain in the days after the 1805 battle - is one of only two known to survive, and was found framed and "in impeccable condition", in the attic of a house in the New Town.

The poster proclaimed that "Admiral Lord Viscount Nelson" had won "the most decisive and glorious naval victory that ever was obtained since the creation of the world".

It was estimated to sell for between 10,000 and 15,000 at Lyon & Turnbull's auction in Edinburgh, but enthusiasts were unable to meet the reserve price.

Lyon & Turnbull specialist Simon Vickers said: "Thousands of these broadsides, the newspapers of their day, would have been produced and sent around the country to proclaim Nelson's victory.

"The majority would have been ripped down or just fallen into disrepair over time, but this one has survived more than 200 years in impeccable condition."