A GIFT…TO THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE OF RUSSIA

This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 4/7/2023

One page military manuscript letter discussing shipping a gift to the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia: In part: "Commg. Generals Office, Philadelphia, Mar 2d, 1827, Sir, I enclose you a Bill of Lading for 5 Boxes which I have taken the liberty to ship to your address, on board the Schooner, Only Son, Captain Benjamin Cook. They contain sundry articles of Military C. String & addressed to Capt. Thos Munroe at Warsaw Poland, intended as a present from our Executive, to the Grand Duke Constantine of Russia….C. Irvin, Commg. Genl of Purchaser" The schooner Only Son landed some of the first immigrants for Stephen F. Austin's colony in 1822 at the mouth of the Colorado. Some of the first white residents of what is now Matagorda County were soldiers sent to protect the new settlers from the Karankawa Indians. GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE (1779-1831), Constantine Pavlovich Romanov - Grand Duke and Tsesarevich of Russia, was prepared by his grandmother, Catherine the Great, to become an emperor of the would-be restored Byzantine Empire. Although he was never crowned, he is sometimes listed among the Russian emperors as Constantine I. In his capacity of the first Viceroy of the Congress Kingdom of Poland, he is remembered as the great champion of the Poles. His love for a Polish woman cost him the Russian crown. Generally, he was an impossible man in an impossible situation. Integral address leaf addressed to "Henry Dearborn, Esq. Collector, Boston…" Impressed military seal. Two tiny tears; in Fine condition.

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