Search

Letters written by command of members of the British Royal family to Alfred Austin both before and during his service as Poet Laureate of England. The greatest number of letters is from Sir Arthur John Bigge, Equerry and briefly secretary to Queen Victoria, but there are also letters on behalf of Edward VII, Queen Alexandra, and George V written by members of their staffs. All but 5 of the 33 letters are of the period following the appointment of Austin as Poet Laureate, January 1896. Although it is almost entirely made up of brief notes thanking the poet for gifts of printings of his poems, the correspondence as a whole is interesting as a vignette of life within the royal household.

Correspondence, photographs, and printed material by and relating to Benjamin Disraeli. There are nine letters from Disraeli to various persons including Sir Charles Adderly, First Baron Norton; the Duke of Northumberland; and Sir Henry Edwards. The letters span the dates 1849 to 1879. Also included are two letters from Disraeli's father, Isaac D'Israeli, 1766-1848, to Stephen Weston, 1805, and Edward Moxon, 1833, and a post card from William Ewart Gladstone. A letter from William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne to Sir William Owen (1837) has been removed from an extra-illustrated edition of "The Letters of Runnymede" (London, 1836) and cataloged for the collection.