Ranavalona III (Queen of Madagascar, 1861-1917)
Letter signed, Algiers, 29th March 1915
£252
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photographs
Auction: 07 February 2024 from 10:00 GMT
Description
in blue ink on one side of single sheet, 25 x 20cm, reading 'Dear Mr and Mrs Wilson, Hearing that your two sons are ill, we would like to send you our sincere sympathy and to express the hope that they will son recover', apparently written by Ranavalona's paid companion Clara Herbert (her signature at foot, together with the name of Ranavalona's aunt Princess Ramasindrazana, also in Herbert's hand), with Ranavalona's autograph signature (using the same pen), creased and toned, chips and splits to extremities, a few spots, with annotation at foot in blue ink by David R. Wilson (see note) identifying the recipients as 'Mr & Mrs T[albot] E[edward] B[aines] Wilson' (of Eastbank House, Sheffield)
Footnote
Queen Ranavalona III was the last independent sovereign of Madagascar. She was sent into exile by the French in 1897, first to Réunion, then to Algiers. The recipients identified in the later annotation belonged to a family of prominent Sheffield industrialists and may have become known to her through involvement in missionary work.
Provenance: By descent from the recipients to David R. Wilson (1926-2020), bookseller and ornithologist (obituary: British Birds, vol. 113, issue 9, pp 560–561).