QUEEN VICTORIA. THE COLORED PICTURE BOOK OF SURPRISING STORIES. (Illustrated with Colored Engravings.) London, [1850]. Small 4to. Original cloth. Presentation copy. With Queen Victoria's autograph inscription: "For little Fritz from his affectionate God-mama, Christmas, 1858." Victoria Reg. Inserted is a carte-de-visite photograph of Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort; also a document signed by the Queen. NELSON, HORATIO, LORD. THE LETTERS of Lord Nelson to Lady Hamilton; with a Supplement of Interesting Letters by Distinguished Characters. London, 1814. 2 vols. in 1, demy 8vo. Half calf. Inserted is a remarkable letter-or, rather, three letters-on one folio sheet. The first is from Nelson, followed by letters from Lady Hamilton and Sir William Hamilton, her husband. All are written to Captain Ball, afterward Sir Alexander Ball, one of Nelson's officers. Nelson's letter, signed "your affectionate friend," promises Captain Ball a frigate, as "no man in the world deserves success so much as yourself." Lady Hamilton's letter is enthusiastic and affectionate. Sir William Hamilton's letter is friendly and appreciative of Captain Ball's achievements. Sir William's signature has been cut off. This letter is a unique memento of one of the most famous love affairs in history. Readers of biography are sufficiently familiar with the career of Emma Hamilton, her humble origin, her service as the goddess of beauty in the "Temple of Health" of a charlatan physician, and the celebrity given her by the genius of Romney the painter. When over sixty years old, the diplomatist Sir William Hamilton proved his philosophy by marrying her, she being then in her thirtieth year. Subsequently her amour with Nelson caused Sir William to change his school of philosophy from the Epicurean to the Stoic. On his death-bed the hero of Trafalgar committed to his countrymen the care of Lady Hamilton and their daughter Horatia, a charge which was carefully ignored. DE LA MOTTE, JEANNE, "COMTESSE DE VALOIS." MEMOIRS, containing a compleat justification of her conduct, and an explanation of the intrigues and artifices used against her by her enemies, relative to the Diamond Necklace, etc., etc. Translated from the French written by herself. London, 1789. 8vo. Half morocco, gilt edges. With the autograph of the instigator of the Diamond Necklace Plot on page 231, where she has signed the portion of the book devoted to a petition to the King: "Comtesse de Valois de la Motte." PORTRAITS DE TOUS LES SOUVERAINS DE L'EUROPE ET DES HOMMES ILLUSTRES MODERNES; accompagnés d'un Texte Biographique.. Dédiés aux Souverains de l'Europe par Mme. Meyer, Peintre. Paris, [1812]. 4to. Contemporary binding of red morocco, gilt, with the device of Duroc, Duc de Friuli, Napoleon's Marshal of the Palace. From the collection of Victorien Sardou, with his book-plate. Inserted are a portrait and an autograph letter of Sardou. THE DRAMA ACTORS AND ACTRESSES of Great Britain and the United States from the Days of David Garrick to the Present Time. Edited by Brander Matthews and Laurence Hutton. New York, 1886. Inserted are more than five hundred portraits of the actors and actresses mentioned in the text, including many that are fine, rare, and curious; colored portraits, caricatures, etc. There are also inserted eighty autographs, including letters of David Garrick, John Philip Kemble, Edmund Kean, Charles Kean, Charles Fechter, E. L. Davenport, Edwin Forrest, W. C. Macready, Dion Boucicault, John Baldwin Buckstone, Charles Mathews the elder, Charles James Mathews, Robert William Elliston (3), Mrs. Inchbald, Charles Mayne Young, Henry West Betty ("the young Roscius"; also a letter from Betty's son), J. H. Hackett (the great Falstaff), William Farren, J. W. Wallack, Edwin Booth, Lawrence Barrett, Joseph Jefferson, W. J. Florence, J. R. Anderson (manager of Drury Lane), Alexandre Dumas the elder, Alexandre Dumas the younger, Eugène Scribe, J. R. Planché, Douglas Jerrold, Alfred Bunn, Benjamin Webster, John O'Keefe, Helen Faucit, Anna Cora Mowatt, Ellen Tree, William Davidge, James E. Murdoch, Harry Edwards, Sheridan Knowles (2), Steele Mackaye, Fanny Davenport, J. L. Toole, John Gilbert, Wilson Barrett, George Colman the younger, Charles Kemble, Daniel Terry, E. A. Sothern, Sarah Siddons, Charlotte Cushman, Modjeska, Lotta, Sarah Jewett, and many others. There are also inserted about forty playbills of performances by Peg Woffington, Mrs. Siddons, John Philip and Charles Kemble, Edmund Kean (3), George Frederick Cooke (2), Charlotte Cushman (as Romeo; rare), Charles Kean, Liston, Munden, Mathews, Mme. Vestris, J. W. Wallack, Miss Farren, Mrs. Jordan, and others. Other inserted items are numerous newspaper clippings, advertisements, etc., some very curious, including excerpts from papers of 1734 and 1747, referring to Peg Woffington, Kitty Clive, Quin, and others. BANCROFT, MR. AND MRS. S. B. ON AND OFF THE STAGE. London, R. Bentley, 1888. 2 vols., 8vo. Half calf, uncut. |