Four autograph letters signed, to: (1) Louis XV, King of France, St. James’s, January 13, 1724; (2) the Duchess of Orléans, St. James’s, May 13, 1724; (3) the Duke of Orléans; and (4) the Duke of Bourbon (the latter two sealed and unopened but presumably signed).

George I, King of England.

Four autograph letters signed, to: (1) Louis XV, King of France, St. James’s, January 13, 1724; (2) the Duchess of Orléans, St. James’s, May 13, 1724; (3) the Duke of Orléans; and (4) the Duke of Bourbon (the latter two sealed and unopened but presumably signed).

1724.

In January 1724, George I appointed Horatio Walpole (diplomat, politician, and younger brother of Sir Robert Walpole, the first British prime minister and uncle of the author, Horace) as an envoy extraordinary to the court of France. The first and second letters are formal letters introducing Horatio to that court and are signed “George R.” Walpole initially refused the post and accepted it only two months later, but several letters from the king were not delivered and lay among the Walpole family effects for many years. Two are open, for all to see; I have resisted “collectors’ curiosity” and have not broken the wax seals on the other two, which remain a probably unique instance of royal correspondence that has not been read or even opened for almost 300 years. Talk about original condition!

Arthur L. Schwarz