The Washington herald., 1911-08-04

The recent sale in London by auction
Of letters written by different royal per-
sonages is a painful reminder Of the
sordid fact that everything has its price.
Even the love letters OF kings and
queens, intended to but one pair of
eyes, have been 'desecrated" with the
vulgar" gaze, and what, perhaps. may
be considered still more vulgar" with
the bidding for possession. WOuldn I
their illustrIous writers turn in their
graves, to know of these doings OF a
modern age.
What consolation would 1t be, for in
stance, to poor Mary. Queen Of Scots.
to know that a letter. written by her
in captivity. realized the amazing sum
of Gl,o25? Would il suit her troubled
mind 70 understand that this was a
record price or that il had been ac-
quired by its former owner for paltry
shilungs?
And what do you suppose Catherine Of
Arragon, that proud Spanish beauty,
would have said had she known that,
81 years after 1t had been written, one
Of her letters would be knocked down in
a London auction room to the highest
bidder Particularly so as that missive
treated of her divorce from Henry VIII
an enormous advance over the e26 paid
for it by its late possessor. Would that
advance have soothed that naughty
Queens feelings?
Judging by a letter written to her
brother. Lord Parr, Catherine OF that
noble family, another of King Henry S
numerous wives. and a sister in misery
OF Catherine of ArragOn, would appear
to have been very proud Of her royal
spouse. She calls him the greatest Joy
and comfort that could have happened TO
her in this world" but perhaps she
would have been Jared had she known
that this effusion of her love would be-
come the subject of a twentieth century
public bid What is more, she might
have become very Jealous of the other
Catherine of her sovereign lord and
master could she have OWNED that her
letter only would be considered worth
sl75, although this was a substantial fig
ure when compared with the E2I paid for
it when 1t changed hands previously.
A letter written by good Queen Bess"
seems to be worth a good deal more than
double that sum. At the same public
sale a three-page epistle in the hand
writing of Queen Elizabeth found a pur-
chaser for G265. The one who parted
with this royal autograph had only
paid for it G75, about one-fifth of that
sum.
But even this sum paid for Queen
Bess' long letter was a good bit less than
the amount paid during the same sale for
a much shorter epistle, written by her
elder sister, Mary Tudor. This note only
was a single page long, but 1t commanded
e420 orG55 more than the letter in the
handwriting of Mary's sister and success
sor upon the throne of England. The con-
tents. a fine state of preservation, the
person to whom it was addressed, and
many other considerations are factors in
fixing the prices for such souvenirs. AT
any rate this one Tudor letter, Of whose
existence the public is aware, always has
been priced highly. for when last it
changed hands it brought a rather big
sum for those days, namely ES1.
Speaking of royal letters, reminds one
that some time ago a love letter written
by Napoleon Bonaparte found a market
in Berlin, much to the chagrin Of the
Parisians 1t was addressed from We
roma to La Cheyenne Bonaparte" (what
a satire in the light of Napoleon's aims
at the time y, the captivating
Josephine. Napoleon then was in COM
mand of the French forces in Italy, and
expressed keen regret at his enforced
absence from his dear beloved Jose
phine. The tone of the entire letter is
warm and even passionate. That letter
is said to have belonged to the Meyer
Cohen collection, but how 1t ever found
its way to the German capital never has
been explained. All. that it realized was
l2o marks.
The love letters or other writings of the
consorts of some monarchs do not ap-
pear to be of much account from the
standpoint OF dollars and cents. For in
stance, a missive in the handwriting of
Maria D'Este, the Queen of King James,
and addressed to the Archbishop of
Athens shortly after the death of the
King, was knocked down. after futile
efforts to get more. for only ELS In Lon
don.
while on the subject of royal letters, IT
will be of interest to learn that there Is
within the walls of Buckingham Palace.
and constructed on the "strong-room"
principle. room known as the secret
library" In this room are stored docu-'
meuts and privats-lsttsrA which, wsrs
/.