TWO LETTERS PATENT FROM QUEEN VICTORIA TO WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE
Lot 164

TWO LETTERS PATENT FROM QUEEN VICTORIA TO WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE

IN LEATHER BOXES

Closed7 May 2008

Price Realised

GBP 2,125

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TWO LETTERS PATENT FROM QUEEN VICTORIA TO WILLIAM EWART GLADSTONE
IN LEATHER BOXES
The first: Victoria, Queen of England (1819-1901). Document, Letters Patent appointing William Ewart Gladstone to Keeper of the Privy Seal, dated 20 August [1892], one page, oblong folio (501 x 600mm), manuscript on vellum with printed arms and border, with Queen Victoria's pendant wax seal in round black metal case (seal, 162mm diameter). Housed in red leather box stamped with the Royal Coat of Arms in gilt, lined with purple velvet (230 x 250mm).

The second: Victoria, Queen of England (1819-1901). Document, Letters Patent appointing William Ewart Gladstone to the post of Chancellor of the Exchequer, dated 9 September [1873], one page, oblong folio (approx. 530 x 695mm), manuscript on vellum, two paper tax stamps in left margin, with Queen Victoria's pendant wax seal housed in round black metal case (diameter of seal 162mm). Housed in black leather box, the lid stamped in gilt with Royal Coat of Arms and inscription 'Her Majesty's Patent' (220 x 290mm). (2)

Specialist note

William Ewart Gladstone was famously at odds with Queen Victoria for much of his career. She described him as a 'half-mad firebrand' and once complained that 'He always addresses me as if I were a public meeting.'