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Lot 80
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Benjamin Disraeli Archive Re: Death of His Friend and Sister's Fiancé, 4 Letters & 4 Documents
Benjamin Disraeli Archive Re: Death of His Friend and Sister's Fiancé, 4 Letters & 4 Documents
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Benjamin Disraeli Archive Re: Death of His Friend and Sister's Fiancé,  4 Letters & 4 Documents

A group of four letters and four documents, Ca. 1831, following the death of Sarah Disraeli's fiancé, William G. Meredith. William had been a family friend of the Disraeli's and proposed to Sarah when she was 19. However, his uncle would not condone the wedding, due to the fact that the Disraelis were Jewish. In 1830, William was sent on a year-long trip, after which his uncle would reconsider the marriage. Benjamin Disraeli accompanied his friend for a part of the trip before the two separated in the spring of 1831. William then traveled to Egypt with another party, but contracted smallpox during the visit and died on July 19, 1831. In a cruel twist of fate, William's uncle had finally consented to the marriage before learning that his nephew had died.

Included in the group are letters between Disraeli and his sister as well as William's sister, Georgiana. There is a death certificate written by Italian doctor, F. Gaetani (in Italian) which Disraeli has inscribed with his own notes, along with a translated copy of the medical account by Dr. Gaetani. There is also an Egyptian travel certificate for William Meredith, accompanied by a translation of the document. Below are some of the highlights from these letters and documents:

Benjamin Disraeli to Sarah Disraeli. 3pp, no place, undated. Autograph letter, reading in full:

"My own Sa! Ere you open this page, our beloved father will have imparted to you with all the tenderness of parental love the terrible intelligence which I have scarcely found courage enough to communicate to him. It is indeed true. Yes! our friend of many years, our life, and joy, and consolation, is in this world lost to us for ever. He has yielded to his Creator without a bodily, or mental, pang, that pure and honorable and upright soul, which we all so honored, and so esteemed; he has suddenly closed a life unsullied by a vice, scarcely by a weakness. Such a death is too awful but for those who are virtuous as himself, and if we regret, that the unconsciousness of his approaching fate has occasioned him to quit us without leaving some last memento of his affection, let us console ourselves by the recollection of the anguish that the same cause has spared him. Oh! my sister, in this hour of overwhelming affliction my thoughts are only for you. Alas, my beloved! if you are lost to me, where, where, am I to fly for refuge! I have no wife, I have no betrothed, nor since I have been better acquainted with my own mind and temper, and situation, have I sought them. Live then my heart's treasure for one, who has ever loved you with a surpassing love, and who would cheerfully have yielded his own existence to have saved you the bitterness of reading this. Yes! my beloved! be my genius, my solace, my companion, my joy! We will never part, and if I cannot be to you all of our lost friend, at least we will feel, that Life can never be a blank while illumined by the pure and perfect love of a Sister and a Brother!"

Benjamin Disraeli to Georgiana Meredith. 3pp, Bradenham House, undated. Autograph letter signed "BD", reading in part:

"Our dear Sa was so violently affected by the receipt of your letter, that I have never ventured again even to allude to its subject, or to produce that cherished memorial which you so kindly entrusted to me, & which is still in my possession. I cannot help thinking that it might be better that it shd return to your hands, but I wd not send it by Ralph even, without your permission, lest you shd misinterpret the motives which informed me in so doing…I told our dear Sa that I wd write to you, & that you shd not think her unmindful of your kindness, but I am so fearful that she may again lose her command of herself, that I have never approached the subject again…"

Dottore F. Gaetani Medical Account, Translated, 6pp, no place, undated. Reads in part:

"Mr. W.G. Meredith an English traveler of about 29 years of age who had for some months been in the best health in the city (Cairo) was attacked on the 11th of July 1831 by sudden indisposition. Being sent for to attend him I proceeded to the house of the invalid whom I found with the following symptoms - Fever of an inflammatory nature, throbbing pain in the head, eyes sunk, face flushed, animated, mouth dry, tongue whitish, the edge and tip red, thirst, pain in the epigastric region which was increased by pressure, retching and vomiting a substance of white mucus nature, pains in the loins, a feeling of weariness particularly in the great articulations of the body and limbs, constipation, etc…A death so melancholy and unexpected can only be attributed by me to the affliction of a quantity of mucus in the trachea by which suffocation was caused."

Benjamin Disraeli Notes on Meredith Death Certificate. 8pp, Cairo, dated July 11, 1831. Document inscribed and signed "Benj. Disraeli", reading in part:

"I think proper to add that Dr. Gaetani only examined the body of my lamented friend immediately after the decease; that he was then obliged to go into the country & that the funeral necessarily took place before his return next day. The body was examined by Mr. Botta the following morning. The blood was flowing from the mouth, & from this, & from other symptoms, Mr. Botta was confirmed in his decided opinion, that the sudden decease was occasioned by an internal hemorrhage…I also submitted this statement to several of the most eminent military surgeons at Malta, with whom I was acquainted. One of these, Mr. Martin of the 73rd, had attended his own regiment at Malta when the smallpox was raging in it. He was therefore particularly qualified to decide. It was his conviction, as well as that of the others, that the deceased was occasioned by an internal hemorrhage, which is not unusual. I mention these particulars because from the rapid alteration after the fatal event, the body of my friend was not opened, altho' I had instantly expressed a desire that it shd be."

Sarah Disraeli never married and would continue to live at home, caring for her aging father. Because of her limited independence, Sarah became greatly involved in her brother's life, with both his political and literary career being of interest to her. When Disraeli married Mary Anne, he and his sister communicated almost exclusively through letters, as the two women did not get along. Sarah Disraeli sadly passed away in 1859, before getting to see her brother elected Prime Minister.

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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