Hanover, 1855. 8vo. 32 page German manuscript, a poetic or theatrical composition dealing with California and dedicated to Queen Marie, Consort of King George V of Hanover, during the California Gold Rush. Dedication page, written in French, signed and dated by ‘Gontard’ who was an affluent art collector and chairman of an elite German art museum, and whom had evidently just met the Queen in person at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. Exquisite red morocco binding by Hof-buchbinders Wilhelm Ermold (binder to the Royal Hanover Court), beautifully finished in gilt with a crowned monogram ‘M’ for Marie, royal blue cloth endpapers, satin bow dividers. Evidence of an imbedded gift-wrapping ribbon to boards, slight foxing to first few leafs, otherwise very good condition, internally clean and bright, a pleasing work in an elegant binding fit for royalty.

Title: Die Reise nach Californien. Nach dem französischen bearbeitet von Eduard Suhren. [A Voyage to California. From the French, edited by Edward Suhren.]

The ambiguously titled manuscript may be a German rendition of the French theatrical opera by Dondey Dupré titled “Le voyage en Californie ou notice explicative du panorama” which concerned travels across the United States and explorations in the West – by John Charles Fremont, first explorer to cross the Sierra Nevada in winter, foremost US Senator, abolitionist, who prospered during the California Gold Rush. Content includes the explorer’s sighting of pines in the Sierra Nevada oak forest at 3500 feet, melting gold, and so forth. Frémont’s father was a native of France, who died only eight years after the French Revolution. As such, his gallant endeavours and accomplishments in the New World would certainly garner much attention in France, as with other European nations with colonies abroad. The French opera was first publicly performed 8 August 1850 in Paris, at the Théâtre des Variétés. Gontard, who met the queen, and dedicates this manuscript to her, may have been involved in a German production, performed for the House of Hanover.

A full page dedication inscription, in French, is addressed to the Queen of Hanover, by Huguenot descendant Jakob Friedrich Moritz Gontard (1826-1886), chairman and administrator of the Städel art museum in Frankfurt, officially the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie. Queen consort of Hanover from 1851 to 1878, née Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, recipient of this dedicated manuscript, was the wife of King George V of Hanover, the last monarch of the short-lived Kingdom of Hanover. In his dedication, dated Hanover, 12 July 1855, Gontard thanks the monarch for having come to see his panorama at the International Exhibition held on the Champs-Elysées, stating that her visit inspired the work which forms the volume, and which he humbly offers to her. He references materials which were given to her onsite, which would elucidate the obscure details of the creative piece. The date indicates that King George V and Queen Marie of the short-lived Kingdom of Hanover attended the event in its first eight weeks. Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom paid a visit to the Parisian Exhibition in August.

Unique manuscript volume, bound in the Royal Court of Hanover, written at the height of the California Gold Rush and featuring historic Americana content.

Princess Marie of Saxe-Altenburg, Queen of Hanover, (1818-1907) was the consort of George V, and Duchess of Cumberland and Tevoitdale. (Her full name is Alexandrine Marie Wilhelmine Katharine Charlotte Theresia Henriette Luise Pauline Elisabeth Friederike Georgine.) Her husband, King George, was expelled from his kingdom in 1866 as a result of his support for Austria in the Austro-Prussian War, and on 20 September 1866, the Kingdom was annexed by Prussia. Nevertheless, George never abdicated. He, Marie and their children lived in exile at Gmunden, in Austria, until George’s death in 1878. On 18 September 1872, Queen Marie was godmother to Queen Victoria’s granddaughter, Princess Marie Louise of Schleswig-Holstein.

The Kingdom of Hanover (1814-1866) (Königreich Hannover) was established in October 1814 by the Congress of Vienna, with the restoration of George III to his Hanoverian territories after the Napoleonic era. It succeeded the former Electorate of Brunswick-Lüneburg (known informally as the Electorate of Hanover), and joined with 38 other sovereign states in the German Confederation. The kingdom was ruled by the House of Hanover, in personal union with the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland until 1837, before being conquered by Prussia in 1866.

A grand International Exhibition was held on the Champs-Elysées in Paris from 15 May to 15 November, 1855, to show progress in agriculture, industry and art. Its full official title was the Exposition Universelle des produits de l’Agriculture, de l’Industrie et des Beaux-Arts de Paris 1855. Today the exposition’s sole physical remnant is the Théâtre du Rond-Point des Champs-Élysées designed by architect Gabriel Davioud, which originally housed the Panorama National. The exposition was a major event in France, then newly under the reign of Emperor Napoleon III. The industrial and art exhibits were considered superior to those of all previous international exhibitions. Napoleon hosted a grand dinner on 25 August 1855 in the Châteaux de Versailles et de Trianon, with Queen Victoria as the guest of honor.

The Gontard family were Huguenots who came to Frankfurt from Grenoble in 1685; many were were wine-merchants, and later bankers in Frankfurt. Jakob Friedrich Moritz Gontard (1826-1886), chairman and administrator of the Städel art museum in Frankfurt, officially the Städelsches Kunstinstitut und Städtische Galerie. Gontard was also a private collector, and bequeathed approximately thirty paintings, mainly Dutch and Flemish Baroque works, among them the work of Adriaen Brouwers.

John Charles Frémont (1813-1890), sometimes called ‘Conqueror of California’ or ‘The Great Pathfinder’ was an American explorer, soldier and political leader, born in Savannah, Georgia, on the 21st of January 1813. His father, a native of France, died when the boy was in his sixth year, and his mother, a member of an aristocratic Virginia family, then removed to Charleston, South Carolina.

 

Collection of Eighteenth Century Tobacco Edicts
Kingdom of Prussia

Tobacco smoking under the reign of Prussian King Frederick William I (1713-1740) and Frederick the Great (1740-1786), the latter of whom dogmatically favoured snuff tobacco

 

Berlin, 1726-1770. Unusual Tobacciana Archive of Scarce and Significant Documents.  Seven separate edicts, from Berlin mid-1700s, are concerned primarily with despotism over manufacturing, selling, exporting, and even using tobacco at a personal level. Topics specifically address matters of potential fire induced by tobacco smoke, quality improvement, regulations and privileges for cigar makers, collection of duties on tobacco and transport, taxation of imported tobaccos, proper procedures for purchasing and selling which most often bereaves any small grower or entrpreneur from profit, and, finally, penalties for disobeying the laws. The earliest are printed by Christian Albrecht Gäbert, the others by Georg Jacob Decker. Folio. Double leafs, early handmade laid paper, untrimmed edges, several featuring woodcut engravings. Text is in German, ranging from 2-6pages of text, each document concluding with the woodcut initials ‘LS’ in cameo. Very good original condition, beautifully preserved.

The collection includes the following:

22 June 1726. 3 pages, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg, a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire, prohibits tobacco smoking in the any wooded terrain, forests, and the like.

20 October 1742. 2 pages with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, prohibits civilians from smoking on hay wagons, and from bringing cigars into a barn.

8 July 1744. 6 pages on 2 double leafs, with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg,concerning careless and dangerous tobacco smoking practices. The substantial edict reinstates or re-proclaims an edict of 28 April 1723, appears to present consequences for contravening the law, and mentions in the first paragraph Valangin in Neufchatel-en-Bray, Haute-Normandie, France. Annotations from 1746 to front.

3 May 1745. 3 3 pages with a cherub and crown woodcut engraving, issued by the March (Margraviate) of Brandenburg, being a declaration of general privileges for the tobacco spinner, also known as a cigar maker, which regulates the market, specifically preventing the sale of any tobacco which does not bear the official “duties paid” sticker, and also preventing the purchase of tobacco from directly from farmers.

4 September 1766. 2 pages with a lovely regal woodcut engraving, a declaration of the 15th article, which controls the rights for trade, preventing civilians to sell tobacco to anyone other the Prussian state government.

20 February 1768. 3 pages, outlines eight separate points, this edict addresses foreign shipment and trade, specifically naming Chur, Prussia, Pomerania, Magdeburg, Halberstadt, and Silesia, stating that all shipments must be appropriately recorded and also reported to the authorities.

1 August 1770. 6 pages on 2 double leafs, with three woodcut engravings, comprises nineteen matters on the subject of tobacco contravention, outlining penalties for the illegal possession or transgressional usage of tobacco on which duties have not been paid.

Snuff, a smokeless tobacco made from ground or pulverised tobacco leaves, originated in the Americas and was in common use in Europe by the 17th century. Snuff taking by the native peoples of Haiti was observed by a Spanish monk named Ramon Pane on Columbus’ second journey to the Americas from 1493 until 1496.

By the 17th century some prominent objectors to snuff taking arose. Pope Urban VIII threatened to excommunicate snuff takers. In Russia in 1643, Tsar Michael instituted the punishment of removing of the nose of those who used snuff. Despite this, use persisted elsewhere; King Louis XIII of France was a devout snuff taker, and by 1638, snuff use had been reported to be spreading in China.

By the 18th century, snuff had become the tobacco product of choice among the elite, prominent users including Napoleon, King George III’s wife Queen Charlotte, and Pope Benedict XIII. The taking of snuff helped to distinguish the elite members of society from the common populace, which generally smoked its tobacco. It was also during the 18th century that an English doctor, John Hill, warned of the overuse of snuff, causing vulnerability to nasal cancers. Snuff’s image as an aristocratic luxury attracted the first U.S. federal tax on tobacco, created in 1794.

 

 

 

 

 

Original ALS on Salmon Fisheries
by Avid Angler Baron Vassall Holland of England
1826

 

Holland House, London, 1826. Original Signed Letter by Lord Holland. 8vo. 4 pages on a double-leaf measuring approximately 11 x 17 cm. Very good condition.

An interesting letter between English upper class aristocrats, pertaining to the natural history of fresh water fish, and the sport of angling, with reference to reports by respected angler and author on the subject, Sir Humphrey Davy, as well as Lord Kinnaird of Scotland. The recipient is unidentified, but could be MP Thomas Creevey, or Samuel Rogers the famous author and banker, both of whom the Baron was frequently communicating with at the time. Dated, Holland House, 17 July 1826, and signed Vassall Holland, the letter was originally sent with two reports from the Select Committee on the Salmon Fisheries of the United Kingdom, published for the Great Britain Parliament, House of Commons, in 1825.

Excerpts from the letter:

“I send you the two reports on the Salmon fisheries printed by the House of Commons last year. You will I think find in them some curious facts relating to the habits of that fish but I believe some previous reports on the same subject contain yet more important particulars relating to their natural history, their rapid carriage & growth & extraordinary strength.”

“These reports are now difficult to obtain and the more so as I do not recollect the exact date of the inquiry. However I have taken steps to ascertain when they were printed & if printed to procure them.”

“Should I not be so fortunate as to get them, I should advise you to apply to Sir Humphrey Davy for the substance of them as he in his double capacity of natural philosopher & skillful angler…”

“Lady Holland has sent with the same parcel a very lively pamphlet written by Ld. Kinnaird on the political state of the Scotch Peers…”

End Excerpts.

Sir Humphrey Davy (1778-1829), English Baron, was highly respected for his study and skill as an angler. In 1828, two years later than this letter which refers to his expertise, the baron published a book on the subject, titled “Salmonia or Days of Fly Fishing.” Very well received, it was a few editions, and an American edition followed four years later. In it he compares the habits and physiological attributes of river and lake fish throughout Europe, including numerous rivers in England, the Danube, Glommen river in Norway, Lake Morat in Switzerland, the Rhine, and so forth. Naturally, the self-touted philosophical angler, also contemplates various fishing strategies.

Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland PC (1773-1840) was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry Fox, 1st Baron Holland, and nephew of Charles James Fox, he served as Lord Privy Seal between 1806 and 1807 in the Ministry of All the Talents headed by Lord Grenville and as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster between 1830 and 1834 and again between 1835 and his death in 1840 in the Whig administrations of Lord Grey and Lord Melbourne.

Sir Humphrey Davy, 1st Baronet (1778-1829) was a British chemist, inventor, and angler for sport. A learned and accomplished man, he is best remembered for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine. In 1815 he invented the Davy lamp, which allowed miners to work safely in the presence of flammable gases. In January 1819, Davy was awarded a baronetcy, at the time the highest honour ever conferred on a man of science in Britain. Davy wrote six scientific works, contributed papers to Rees’ Cyclopaedia relating to chemistry, as well as, in 1828, a substantial work on the habits of salmon and other fish, “Salmonia or Days of Fly Fishing.”

 

 

 

 

 

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