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Lot 92
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Benjamin Disraeli Archive, 30+ Original Signed Letters from His Later Career
Benjamin Disraeli Archive, 30+ Original Signed Letters from His Later Career
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Description:

Benjamin Disraeli Archive, 30+ Original Signed Letters from His Later Career

A large archive of correspondence penned by British politician Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881), addressed to family intimates, friends, fellow politicians, business associates, and literary connections during his later career.

The archive of 35 letters and 7 envelopes ranges from May 1860 to December 1880 for a total of 110+ handwritten pages. Disraeli's signature appears in these letters and envelopes as "B" (5); "D" (10); "Disraeli" or in the form of his wife's name "Mrs Disraeli" (3); "B Disraeli" (16); in the third person as "Mr. Disraeli" (2); and "Beaconsfield" (6). Inscribed in pen on a variety of stationery papers, many on mourning stationery, which Disraeli used following the 1872 death of his beloved wife Mary Anne Lewis. Condition is generally very good to near fine, with expected folds and light wear. Isolated foxing and occasional mounting traces. Scattered closed tears along folds and isolated loss corresponding to wax seals. The average size of the letters is 4.5" x 7.125."

Over the 20-year period of their correspondence included here, Disraeli would serve his third term as Chancellor of the Exchequer between 1866-1868, and also undertake terms as British Prime Minister in 1868 and between 1874-1880.

The archive is not exhaustively described and should be closely inspected. Please refer to catalog images for further details.

The archive is comprised of, in chronological order:

- Grosvenor Gate, London, May 10, 1860. A 4pp autograph letter signed by Disraeli as "B Disraeli" and addressed to "W.T. Carlisle." Relating to business affairs in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Disraeli lived at 1, Grosvenor Gate between 1839-1872.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, August 15, 1860. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to John Edward Walcott (1790-1868), a career naval officer and a member of the British Parliament representing Christchurch after 1852. Disraeli worried about unrest in Italy, writing: "Affairs on the Continent seem very serious, + if Garibaldi attacks Veneto, it will be difficult to prevent a general war." Important first steps towards the 1871 unification of Italy were taking place in the late 1850s and early 1860s. The Austrians had lost Lombardy in the Franco-Austrian War though the northwestern region of Veneto was still a hold-out. Meanwhile Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807-1882) threatened the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies during his 1860 Expedition of the Thousand.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 3, 1860. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to "W.T. Carlisle." Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope signed as "Disraeli." Regarding Disraeli's frustration with business affairs in Ceylon. Disraeli lived at Hughenden Manor between 1848 and his death in 1881.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 18, 1860. A 2pp autograph letter twice signed in the third person as "Mr Disraeli" and addressed to Reverend Jonathan H. MacMahon (1829-1900), the Irish cleric and author. The original transmittal envelope is included and is also signed as "Disraeli." Regarding a "volume on metaphysics," probably MacMahon's "A Treatise on Metaphysics, Chiefly in Reference to Revealed Religion" (1860).

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, September 16, 1861. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to "W.T. Carlisle." Concerning Disraeli's business affairs in Ceylon.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, January 20, 1862. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to "[W.]T. Carlisle." Disraeli complains that Carlisle has not informed him of recent developments regarding property rents in Ceylon.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, September 12, 1862. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to Messieurs Burley and Carlisle. The bottom half of the letter is heavily soiled though still legible. Disraeli questions appraisal values related to business affairs in Ceylon.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 2, 1862. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to Edward Vaughan Kenealy (1819-1880), an Irish lawyer. Disraeli wrote in part: "I am not 'devouring' but intentionally, reading it slowly." Kenealy would later be disbarred because of professional misconduct. In the notorious Tichborne Case, Kenealy used unconventional methods to defend his client, an Australian butcher who falsely posed as a British aristocrat's long-lost son.

- Carlton Club, London, March 25, 1863. A 2pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to Messieurs Burley and Carlisle. Disraeli requested some financial statements.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, March 22, 1864. A 2pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to "Mr. Carlisle." Referring to "Lady Jersey," Disraeli's old friend Sarah Villiers, Countess of Jersey (1785-1867) and business affairs in Ceylon.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, April 7, 1865. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to "J.H. Hyde." Mentioning the General Election and the "Bucks Herald," referring to Buckinghamshire, England.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 12, 1865. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to William à Court-Holmes, 2nd Baron Heytesbury (1809-1891). Recommending a servant named Charles Newberry, who regretfully had to leave Disraeli's service because of a quarrel with the housekeeper.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, January 23, 1866. A 1p autograph letter signed as "D" asking a "B. Hepburn Esq." to meet on Saturday morning.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, October 18, 1866. A 2pp autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to Sir John Dalrymple-Hay, 3rd Baronet (1821-1912), the career naval officer and Conservative politician then representing Stamford. Thanking Sir Hay for a gift of Scottish game.

- 10 Downing Street, London, March 20, 1868. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and also signed twice within the text in the form of his wife's name as "Mrs Disraeli." Addressed to Lieutenant Colonel George Grant Gordon (1836-1912), the retired British military officer and Equerry of the Household of Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (1831-1917) and his wife, Princess Christian (Helena, Queen Victoria's third daughter, (1846-1923). Disraeli inquired if the royal couple would be able to attend his wife's upcoming social event, where the Prince and Princess of Wales (future Edward VII and Queen Alexandra) would also be in attendance. (Disraeli had married Mary Anne Lewis (1792-1872) in 1839.) Disraeli had just finished his third and last term as Chancellor of the Exchequer in late February 1868.

- 10 Downing Street, London, April 24, 1868. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" addressed to William Henry Gregory (1816-1892), then a Liberal politician representing Galway. In part, "I want you to do me the favour of being one of the Boundary Commissioners of Ireland…" Docketed and signed by Gregory verso.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, December 8, 1868. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "D" ensuring the "Baroness" that he will attend her dinner tomorrow. Disraeli had just begun his first stint as Leader of the Opposition in Parliament on December 1, 1868.

- 11, Downing Street, London, January 11, 1869. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" addressed to British historian George Grote (1794-1871) regretting that he cannot attend a meeting.

- Grosvenor Gate, London, February 21, 1870. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" addressed to Sir Joseph Napier, 1st Baronet (1804-1882), an Irish Conservative who had briefly served as Lord Chancellor of Ireland in the late 1850s. In part, "It is eighteen years ago since you + I first conferred together about an Irish land Bill…Now, I am in a very different situation. Not a single Irish lawyer in the H: of Commons, at least on our benches, except Bale, also is of course in the diocese of Arnaugh…Under these circumstances, I write to you, my old confederate…I don't even know whether the Ulster right can be enforced in a Court of Law, + there is nobody here to tell me! I must therefore summon 'Napier to the rescue'…"

- Grosvenor Gate, London, April 8, 1870. A 2pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" thanking Denis Florence MacCarthy (1817-1882) for sending him a copy of his recent translation of Pedro Calderón de la Barca's novel "The Two Lovers of Heaven, Chrysanthus and Daria: A Drama of Early Christian Rome" (1870).

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, October 9, 1870. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B Disraeli" and addressed to Theodore Martin (1816-1909). Thanking Martin for a copy of his edition of the works of Horace, and musing on the Roman poet's influence on modern British authors. The edges of the pages have been reinforced.

- Canford Manor, Wimborne, Dorset, December 3, 1872. A 1p autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to Thomas Longman (1804-1879), the British publisher who had purchased the copyrights to Disraeli's fifteenth novel "Lothair" in 1870. In part, "No sum has even been paid to me & the Treasury on account of 'Lothair'…"

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, August 7, 1873. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "D" with its original transmittal envelope also signed as "B Disraeli" laid down on the blank fourth page of the bifold letter. Congratulating his correspondent Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dyott (ca. 1809-1891) for political gains. The mourning stationery commemorated Disraeli's beloved wife Mary Anne Lewis, who had died in mid-December 1872.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, September 9, 1873. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to his friend Marianne de Burgh née Tollemache (ca. 1809-1880), the companion to Queen Victoria's cousin the Duchess of Cambridge, Princess Augusta of Hesse-Kassel (1797-1889). In part, " The bad weather is not peculiar to Cheshire. After a golden August, we have ceaseless rain, wh: may improve our turnips, but will spoil some stale ungarnered corn…"

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 29, 1875. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to an unidentified correspondent whom he calls "my dear." Extending his most affectionate birthday wishes. Disraeli had begun his second and final term as Prime Minister in February 1874.

- 10 Downing Street, London, November 11, 1876. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "B" with no identified correspondent. In part, "We are all right again in England, but the atrocious agitation being done[,] mischief abroad wh: it will take much to counteract. In June we dictated to Europe, + now every power looks at us askance."

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, September 7, 1877. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B" and addressed to Disraeli's friend Marianne de Burgh (see above.) Accompanied by the original transmittal envelope also signed by Disraeli as "Beaconsfield." Commenting on his reversal of political course, and his health. Disraeli had accepted Queen Victoria's honorary title of Lord Beaconsfield in August 1876.

- 10 Downing Street, London, February 15, 1878. A 2pp autograph letter signed as "Beaconsfield" and addressed to an unknown "dear Lady" regretfully declining a dinner invitation.

- 10 Downing Street, London, March 16, 1878. A 7pp autograph letter signed as "B" and addressed to an unidentified "my dear." In part, "My life for some months has not been a life of note-writing or visit-paying - I am oppressed + aborted by business beyond the management of mortals…I hope to see you again in this world - but I don't give myself more than half a doz: months."

- 10 Downing Street, London, May 26, 1878. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "Beaconsfield" and addressed to an unknown "dear Lady" declining all engagements while the "Imperial + Royal Guests remain in this country."

- Duncombe Park, York, September 19, 1878. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "D" and addressed to an unidentified correspondent. Updates on his health and describing his palatial accommodations. Minor closed tears along the horizontal fold.

- N.p., December 20, 1878. A 4pp autograph letter signed as "B" accompanied by its original transmittal envelope also signed as "B." Addressed to Disraeli's friend Marianne de Burgh (see above.) Regarding a "Californian Deputation" and "Xmas pie : a foie gras from Strasbourg." The envelope has a near-perfect black wax seal which was broken very neatly verso.

- 10 Downing Street, London, March 1, 1879. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "Beaconsfield" accompanied by an original transmittal envelope from 1872 signed as "D." The letter and envelope were addressed to John Arthur Roebuck (1802-1879), a politician born in India and raised in Canada who affiliated with utilitarian reformers and represented the constituency of Sheffield for many years. In part, "I have been in the gout of late + a prisoner, but am in my legs again..." A previous collector's pencil-inscribed pricing notes from the 1920s are found on the last page.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, July 9, 1880. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "Beaconsfield" and addressed to "Miss de Burgh," presumably the daughter of Disraeli's friend Marianne de Burgh née Tollemache (see above), and possibly his god-daughter. Accompanied by its original transmittal envelope with an unusual "Hughenden Manor" black wax seal. The letter mentions Lady Mount Temple. This was Georgina Tollemache (1822-1901), one of Marianne's eight sisters and the wife of Liberal politician William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple. Disraeli had ended his second and last term as Prime Minister in late April 1880.

- Hughenden Manor, High Wycomb, December 8, 1880. A 3pp autograph letter signed as "Beaconsfield" and addressed to Sir Henry Edwards, 1st Baronet (1812-1886), a Conservative politician. Thanking him for a gift, and asking: "What do you think of Ireland!!!"

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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