Every day Sophie Dupre presents two items from her large stock of signed photographs, autograph letters, autographs for sale, royal memoralbilia and antiquarian manuscripts.
The photographs are presented with the catalogue descriptions.
On this day... see what happened on your special day
December 16
ON THIS DAY
On this day in 1888 Alexander I of Yugoslavia was born. He served as prince regent of the Kingdom of Serbia from 1914 and later became King of Yugoslavia from 1921 to 1934 (prior to 1929 the Kingdom was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes). He was the last European monarch to be assassinated.
In 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte divorced Empress Joséphine by French Senate. He had married her in 1796, when he was 26 and she was a 32-year-old widow whose first husband had been executed during the Revolution. Joséphine did not produce an heir, possibly because of either the stresses of her imprisonment during the Reign of Terror or an abortion she may have had. Napoleon chose to divorce her so he could remarry in search of an heir.
KING ALEXANDER IN THE YEAR BEFORE HIS ASSASSINATION
ALEXANDER I (1888-1934, King of the Serbs, Croats & Slovenes, from 1929 of Yugoslavia)]
Superb photograph by Tonka of Zagreb, signed and inscribed to “A. V. E. Monsieur Charles Sherrill”, with the place and date, showing him three quarters length in uniform, 11” x 7½” in superb original silver presentation frame by Garrard and Co., London, with an inset enamel Royal coat of arms at the head, the back and hinge are covered in red morocco, 14” x 10½”, “Beograd” (Belgrade)
1933
38568
NAPOLEON I (1769-1821, Emperor of the French)
Decree Signed ‘Napo[leon]’ as Emperor of the French, in Italian with translation, saying that “on the Report of Our Minister of Foreign Relations of the Kingdom of Italy”, Ferdinando Marescalchi (1754-1816, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Italy, 1802-1805, of the Napoleonic Kingdom, 1805-1814, Count, 1809), “Antonio Granelli, ... accused of various crimes committed in the territory of Our Empire, previously condemned for contempt of court to the penalty of death by the French Tribunals, and now detained in the prison of Brescia, shall be placed at the disposal of the French Authorities”, 2 sides folio, Tuileries, 12th April 1809
55524
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December 16
ON THIS DAY
On this day in 1822 Matthew Arnold was born. He was an English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School.
In 1980 Karl Dönitz died at the age of 89. He was a German admiral who played a major role in the naval history of World War II. Dönitz succeeded Adolf Hitler as the head of state of Germany.
“A QUARTO CAN NEVER COME INTO COMMON USE”
ARNOLD (Matthew, 1822-1888, Poet)
Autograph Letter Signed to Morell thanking him for his “very handsome, very interesting and very useful volume. Its only fault is that for a volume so useful, it it too handsome; a quarto can never come into common use, and this book ought to come into common use, it meets so real a want ... no doubt ... you and Longman know your own business better than I do, and perhaps the work will appear as a schoolbook when it has succeeded and pleased, as it well deserves ... in its present form. Nothing is more interesting than the transition from the ancient world to modern history, and nothing is more neglected by English teachers of history. The great Italian Renaissance was entirely hidden from English sight, when I was a boy, by the German Reformation, and it is too much hidden from English sight still ...”, he continue with best wishes and saying that he doesn’t “forget my pleasant intercourse with you in the old days ...”, 3 sides 8vo., together with a print by the NPG, Education Department, Whitehall stamped paper, Cobham, Surrey, 24th January no year but circa 1880 slight mark around the edge of the second and third sides from former mounting
38573
DÖNITZ (Karl, 1891-1980, German Grand Admiral who succeeded Hitler)
Postcard photo signed and dated, showing him head and shoulders in uniform, 5¾” x 4¼”, no place, 11th February 1967
38620
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