PRINCE GEORGE, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE. A series of autographed le...

Hammer

£240

PRINCE GEORGE, DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE. A series of autographed letters from Prince George, Duke of Cambridge to Colonel George Thurles Finucane, 1842-1867 (a quantity). Prince George, Duke of Cambridge. A series of 16 autographed letters signed from Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (1819–1904) to Colonel George Thurles Finucane (1791–1879), between 1842 and 1867, discussing military, political and personal matters over the course of their long friendship, commencing January 1845 while stationed in Corfu, ‘I sit down to give you a line from here to show you, that your friends miss you dreadfully and that you are not forgotten’, and the following year from London, ‘I nail my faith in Sir Robert Peel, being fully persuaded that he is the only man to be at the head of affairs of this great country and I am therefore truly sorry to find that there is a very strong feeling against him and that the general impression is that his Government cannot stand’, and later noting his own promotion, ‘…I make no doubt you will have heard of my being appointed to the Limerick District in succession to Lord Downes’ and sharing distress at the Finucane’s lack of progress, ‘I wish my dear Fin I could hear of your appointment to a better place’, and in 1846, commenting on the famine in Ireland, ‘The country meanwhile is really in a most terrible state, nothing but starvation staring me in the face in all directions. God knows what is to become of it, I for my part see no chance whatever of improvement. Every body cries out but nobody seems to know what to do or what to propose and meanwhile poor John Bull is paying through the nose…’, and discussing a shared interest in theatre, ‘We have two operas, Jenny Lind a great singer and carries all before her with overwhelming success. Covent Garden is however decidedly the finest company of the two with the best orchestra’, and inviting intelligence on military matters, ‘So much has been said of late of the disturbances in Cephalonia and the conduct of Sir George Ward on that occasion, that I am extremely anxious to hear from one on the spot the real state of the case and I therefore tip you a line my dear Finucane to beg of you to enlighten my mind’, while sharing his movements, ‘I confess I am one of those who are delighted at the Austrian Monarchy having been saved from destruction and I admire the gallantry and devotion of the Austrian Army. I am also much pleased with the Prussians of whom I saw a good deal during last summer, as I went over for a fortnight to see them in their campaign against Baden, when all behaved remarkably well’, and noting his position at the war in Crimea, ‘Our Infantry are all quite ready for a win. I have a splendid division’, but later conceding, ‘Here it is impossible to remain and to sacrifice an Army and Fleet at the Crimea seems to me madness, though the people of England appear to expect it’, 97pp., some with envelopes; and a further ALS to George Finucane from Henry Finucane, dated 16 June 1842, informing him of the death of his sister, 3pp.; an ALS from A. E. Loughnan to the Duke of Cambridge, concerning a charitable donation, 3pp.; an ALS from the Duke of Cambridge to Lord Home, congratulating him on the promotion of his son, 2pp., and a passport issued to Colonel George T. Finucane on 16 August 1870, 1pp.; and various recent research notes, v.s. (a quantity). *Condition Report Varied. **BP 22.5% (inc. VAT) + a lot fee of £8 (inc. VAT) on each lot. VAT is not applicable on books and unframed maps.