Autograph letters of the Prince Imperial fetch very high prices indeed—anything from £5 upwards. The fine essay written by him at the Royal Military College, Woolwich, is worth quite twice that sum.
Letters of the Empress Eugénie are now generally priced higher than those of her husband, and I have known as much as £10 asked for one. Her Majesty is, or was, a zealous collector of autographs. Twenty years ago she was credited with possessing several letters of Catherine of Aragon, and a letter from Henry VII. to King and Queen Ferdinand and Isabella, of the highest historical importance.
Fine letters of Louis XVIII., Charles X., and Louis Philippe can be obtained for a pound or less, and the correspondence of the statesmen who served under them is even cheaper. I gave 20 francs for a very confidential letter written to the last-named monarch by Count Molé (1781-1853) in July, 1835. It begins thus:—
Sire,—His Majesty will probably recollect that by means of a little monthly arrangement I have very nearly silenced the grape-shot of the Morning Chronicle, obtaining occasionally even favourable mention. I have undertaken now and then to obtain news paragraphs from London. Here is the first. It is curious, very curious indeed. I believe in the truth of its contents. I have opened up relations with The Times.
At this point he suddenly drops the subject, and enlarges on certain gossip from the German Courts and the lack of intelligence shown by the War Minister, General Bernard.
A.L.S. OF ADMIRAL BRUEYS, THE FRENCH ADMIRAL COMMANDING-IN-CHIEF, WHO WAS KILLED AT TRAFALGAR, DATED MAY 25, 1797.
The official letters of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic periods are often distinguished by engraved vignettes of great artistic beauty. The designs of the earlier ones are often classical. The letters of naval officers are often headed by a medallion on which a Roman galley figures conspicuously. It was by carefully studying the sale catalogues that I obtained the letter of Talleyrand to Napoleon at an outlay of 27 francs. For 52 francs I purchased in the open market one of the earliest official letters of Villeneuve to the Minister of Marine at Paris, after the battle of the Nile.
Some of the autographs of the Revolution fetch very high prices. Letters of Mirabeau are comparatively cheap, but those of the Robespierres and Anacharsis Cloots command almost as much as those of Montesquieu. Letters of Madame Roland and Marat are also much in request. Autographs of Charlotte Corday are probably more valuable than those of Marie Antoinette.