Lot 40
VICTORIA & PRINCE CHRISTIAN VICTOR Collection of letters and photographs assembled by George Wise of the 4th Kings Royal Rifles, manservant to Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein
4 December 2019, 11:00 GMT
London, KnightsbridgeSold for £2,805 inc. premium
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VICTORIA & PRINCE CHRISTIAN VICTOR
Collection of letters and photographs assembled by George Wise of the 4th Kings Royal Rifles, manservant to Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, comprising:
series of 8 autograph letters from Queen Victoria signed ("VRI"), 7 to Prince Christian Victor ("Dearest Christle" or "Dear Christel"), speaking throughout in the most affectionate terms, sending birthday wishes on his sixteenth birthday ("...my present of silver will I hope prove useful...") and his twenty-first ("...may God guide you in the difficult path of life & may you resist the temptation which beset every young man in this world..."), sending pocket money ("...I know school boys expect a little money on going back to school..."), imparting advice to him in India ("...be very careful & if you feel...out of sorts you should go at once to the Dr & not think you can walk it off..." and "...boil the water... I hope you will remember all this..."), with another to Princess Louise, one envelope with seal in black wax, on mourning paper, 28pp, 8vo,Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle, Florence, Nice, Osborne, 13 April 1883 to 10 August 1899; with other material including an autograph letter from Victoria, Empress Frederick to Princess Marie Louise, wishing her good wishes for her wedding in 1891, postcards and signed photographs including the "Four Generations" photograph by W & D Downey, signed and inscribed "The four Generations July 16 1894" and a postcard photograph of the future George V and Queen Mary signed on the reverse "Georgie" and "May" dated 1909; together with two autograph letters of thanks from Princess Marie Louise to George Wise sending him photographs of Prince Christian Victor's grave, various Wise family photographs and Wise's certificates of discharge from the 4th Kings Royal Rifles describing his conduct as "exemplary"; with an album containing over 150 photographs,many with annotations, depicting Ceylon (nine by S. Cowen & Co. including "The Perahera", "Sinhalese Devil Dancers", "A garden party in Kandy", "Outcasts that live in the NW Part of Ceylon, quite harmless"), Mandalay (four by Johannes & Co, including "Queen's Golden Monastery"), Burma and Tangiers (street scenes, elephants, temples, markets etc) interspersed with images relating to Prince Christian Victor and other royalty (including a smiling Edward VII on horseback), five depicting Boer War scenes ("Prof. Chiene & assistant doctors giving anaesthetic wounded Boer prisoner" by Bennett, "Spion Kop" and "Colenso Railway Bridge" by Van Hoepen of Pretoria), mostly albumen prints, images 214 x 262mm. and smaller, on 31 leaves, 4 loose, green half morocco, worn, binding defective; two loose watercolours titled "Anjangar Woman" and "Policeman"; with another album containing 29 cabinet photographs including The Princess of Wales and Prince Albert Victor at Abergeldy, 1886, Queen Victoria as Empress of India by Bassano, 1887, forked lightning at Cambridge 1889, the inundation at King's Lynn, March 1883 and others, inserted into 16 decorative album leaves, brown morocco, embossed floral design on upper and lower board, gilt edges and brass clasp, worn, [19th century]
series of 8 autograph letters from Queen Victoria signed ("VRI"), 7 to Prince Christian Victor ("Dearest Christle" or "Dear Christel"), speaking throughout in the most affectionate terms, sending birthday wishes on his sixteenth birthday ("...my present of silver will I hope prove useful...") and his twenty-first ("...may God guide you in the difficult path of life & may you resist the temptation which beset every young man in this world..."), sending pocket money ("...I know school boys expect a little money on going back to school..."), imparting advice to him in India ("...be very careful & if you feel...out of sorts you should go at once to the Dr & not think you can walk it off..." and "...boil the water... I hope you will remember all this..."), with another to Princess Louise, one envelope with seal in black wax, on mourning paper, 28pp, 8vo,Windsor Castle, Balmoral Castle, Florence, Nice, Osborne, 13 April 1883 to 10 August 1899; with other material including an autograph letter from Victoria, Empress Frederick to Princess Marie Louise, wishing her good wishes for her wedding in 1891, postcards and signed photographs including the "Four Generations" photograph by W & D Downey, signed and inscribed "The four Generations July 16 1894" and a postcard photograph of the future George V and Queen Mary signed on the reverse "Georgie" and "May" dated 1909; together with two autograph letters of thanks from Princess Marie Louise to George Wise sending him photographs of Prince Christian Victor's grave, various Wise family photographs and Wise's certificates of discharge from the 4th Kings Royal Rifles describing his conduct as "exemplary"; with an album containing over 150 photographs,many with annotations, depicting Ceylon (nine by S. Cowen & Co. including "The Perahera", "Sinhalese Devil Dancers", "A garden party in Kandy", "Outcasts that live in the NW Part of Ceylon, quite harmless"), Mandalay (four by Johannes & Co, including "Queen's Golden Monastery"), Burma and Tangiers (street scenes, elephants, temples, markets etc) interspersed with images relating to Prince Christian Victor and other royalty (including a smiling Edward VII on horseback), five depicting Boer War scenes ("Prof. Chiene & assistant doctors giving anaesthetic wounded Boer prisoner" by Bennett, "Spion Kop" and "Colenso Railway Bridge" by Van Hoepen of Pretoria), mostly albumen prints, images 214 x 262mm. and smaller, on 31 leaves, 4 loose, green half morocco, worn, binding defective; two loose watercolours titled "Anjangar Woman" and "Policeman"; with another album containing 29 cabinet photographs including The Princess of Wales and Prince Albert Victor at Abergeldy, 1886, Queen Victoria as Empress of India by Bassano, 1887, forked lightning at Cambridge 1889, the inundation at King's Lynn, March 1883 and others, inserted into 16 decorative album leaves, brown morocco, embossed floral design on upper and lower board, gilt edges and brass clasp, worn, [19th century]
Footnotes
'I KNOW SCHOOL BOYS EXPECT A LITTLE MONEY ON GOING BACK TO SCHOOL': Queen Victoria, the doting grandmother, writes fondly to a favourite grandson. Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, known in the family as "Christle", died of enteric fever in October 1900 whilst serving in the Boer War. He holds the honour of being the only member of the Royal family to have played first class cricket, turning out for the I Zingari club in 1897 against the Gentlemen of England captained by W.G. Grace. Our album includes a photograph of the Prince with what appears to be other members of the team and club co-founder John Lorraine Baldwin resplendent in his bath chair.
To have been given such personal items from the Prince's own possessions illustrates the great esteem in which George Wise was held by the royal family, as Princess Marie Louise writes in a letter of recommendation included here: "George Wise was personal servant to the late Prince Christian Victor for 8 years... his devotion to my brother was decorated personally by H M the late Queen Victoria, he also received Queen Victoria's Jubilee Medal, with King Edward's & King George's coronation medals together with the South African and late Great War medals. After my brothers death, he became my Steward and Sec: in charge of all my household a/cs and my entire household. He was with me from 1900 to 1916... I can not recommend him too highly, & is absolutely fitted for any position of trust...".