The Portland daily press., 1893-09-04


Margherita, the Pearl of Savoy" is an
assortment of the gloves, boots and shoes
worn by Distinguished persons They in
clude the sandals of Nero, Rienzi's
"throne shoe," pair of slippers and d
| fan that belonged to Mary, Queen of
Scots, and shoes worn by Queen Anne,
Marie Antoinette and the Empress Jose
phine. Prince Ferdinand of Bulgaria is
little renowned for anything save his
has a perfect mania for these garments,
and has paid as much as $525 for an en-
broidered robe made up for him in Paris.
This fact recalls the famous wardrobe of
Queen Elizabeth, who left at her death
5000 articles of various kinds, and still
| Russia; no fewer than..S. 700 articles had
to be enumerated at her death. The
| Empress Josephine's wardrobe was also
| famous, as was also that of the Prln-
cess Metternich, who left 300 gowns, 60
cloaks,. so shawls, 152 petticoats, 365
pairs of stockings, 156 pairs of gloves, SO
pairs of boots and shoes, 10 belts, and
sashes, Ga brooches, 81 fans, "a parasols,
and bonnets too numerous to mention.
| A more remarkable collection was that
| of the Duchess of Somerset, who left
at her death 500 handkerchiefs, 1900
| pairs of gloves, 500 shawls, 600 pairs of
| silk stock ings, and dresses of all descrip-
/ tions of forty years. fashions. Strange
to say, the owner had lived the life of
| a recluse for thirty years, yet she ordered
| gowns as if she were mixing in the world
Every three months she would dress in
court costume as if going to reception,
and walk about in her own rooms in
| solitude.
i The Wardrobe of King
Perhaps the most extensive sale of
| clothing was that of the wardrobe of
| George w., including every coat that he
had worn for so years, besides uniforms,
fur, boots and shoes of all kinds, canes,
walking sticks, 800 whips and 500 pocket
| books He may be said to have collected
snuff, as he left..a whole cellar full of
his favorite kind, which was sold by
private treaty for SO, 900. This reminds
one of Lord Petersham, who also had an
immense quantity of snuff, which, when
| sold, required three men three days 20
weigh it. He kept it in room tnat
| looked like a shop, for all round the
walls were shelves upon which We're
placed jars with the namessin gilt letters
| Of innumerable kinds of snuff and all the
necessary apparatus for mixing 1t, On
| the other side of the room stood canisters
containing Souchong, Congou, Pekoe,
| Bohea, Gundowder, and other favorite
! tea He also had fine collection of snuff
boxes
The famous Count of Bruhl, who was
said by Frederick the Great to have "of
all men of his time the most watches,
boots, shoes, slippers and lace" possessed
collection of 300 wigs-a fad followed
by resident in Paris, who owns To-Day
hundreds of wigs, including one worn by
Sterne. and one Of Rants, each OF which
were procured at an enormous price. In
list of French collectors recently pub
lished one lady is mentioned who has a
collection of knitting and crochet need
les; another pays large sums Tor tne
gloves of all the beauties OF the lasI TWO
Centuries. and another has brought to-
oether MANY hundreds of corset busks,
including busks that belonged to Marie
Antoinette. Nine de Stael, the Empress
Josephine and Queen Christina Oh oWed-
en-. Several Of these articles are made
of precious metals and some are even
set with jewels.
tion of flowers made in China, which are
invariably placed on the table on the
occasion of dinner party instead OF the
natural ones
Mrs. Langtry's Fans.
The largest collection of fans in the
world is owned by Mrs. Langtry, who
keeps them in room designed by Oscar
Wilde Perhaps the most famous collec-
ton of pipes was owned by Mr.. Klaes
of Holland, widely known as the King
of Smokers" who died in Rotterdam in
1881. He had amassed a fortune in the
linen trade. and had hall in his home
devoted to his collection of pipes, ar
ranged in chronological order and accord
ing to nationality The Duke of Sussex,
brother to George H., collected cigars and
Bibles. Lord Beaconsfeld had a fine col
lection of pipes, and the late Lawrence
BARRETT shared the same fancy, owning
many rare SPECIMENS.
AS an instance of circumstances develop
ing collection, beleaguered resident
of Paris gathered together every. political
caricature, squib and placard from the
first investment of the city by the Ger
man army, and after the siege took
them to London, where they fetched an
enormous price.
The most extraordinary collection of
postage stamps is owned by M. de Fer
reari of Paris who employ two librari
ans to arrange and catalogue his speci-
mems procured during thealast rs years.
A curious collection has just been
offered to the British Museum by Cana
dian gentleman, VINO mas expended vast
amount of time in procuring the buttons
of officers of every regiment and depart
ment of the British army This has re-
uuired nine years of patient labor, during
which time the owner wrote 5S4 letters
to all parts of the globe in pursuit OF his
hobby. Among curious collections was
one owned by Gustave Mace, sometime
chief of the Paris detective force. About
three years ago he published a volume
under the title of Mon Musee Criminel,"
which contains remarkable list Of NOR
bid articles and mementoes. Sof adlstin-
g1lished French assassins and their vic
Tins. Lord Randolph Churchill has a
touch of this morbid taste. as he has q
fad for collecting the teeth of noted
criminals and.murderers.
A Frencbman's Warming Pans.
Collecting warming pans seems
queer vanity, butssuch was the fad of M.
Nestor Roqueplan, asFrenchman' and lit
terateur, who had a gallery in his house
where he kept his treasures, and could
exhibit to his visitors warming pans that
had taken the chill off the beds slept in
by Mary Queen of Scots, Catherine de
Medici, Diane de Poictiers, Mime. de