Lot 203
Dukes of Hamilton - carte-de-visite album
Rare Books, Manuscripts, Maps & Photography
Auction: 17 May 2017 at 12:00 BST
Description
118 cartes-de-visite, 3 cabinet cards, 14 albumen prints relating to the Dukes of Hamilton, probably compiled by Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton (1850-1922), including photographs by Disdéri, Camille Silvy, Henry Peach Robinson, Alexander Bassano, Serge Levitsky, John Mayall and Thomas Annan, 19th century embossed morocco album, some fading and occasional light foxing, clasp broken, rubbed
Footnote
Provenance: From a private collection, purchased in Florence in 1968
Note: The album seemingly once belonged to a member of the immediate family of William Douglas-Hamilton, 11th Duke of Hamilton (1811-1863). It was probably compiled by his daughter, Lady Mary Victoria Douglas-Hamilton (1850-1922), who married Prince Albert I of Monaco in 1869. That marriage was annulled ten years later and she subsequently married the Hungarian nobleman Tasziló Festetics de Tolna. Among her descendants are Prince Rainier III of Monaco, the fashion designer Prince Egon von Fürstenberg, the socialite and actress Princess Ira von Fürstenberg and the Czech Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Karel Schwarzenberg.
The album contains eight portraits of Lady Mary Victoria, including an engagement portrait taken with her first husband, Prince Albert I of Monaco. Among the other members of her family represented in the album are her father, the 11th Duke of Hamilton (7); her mother, Princess Marie Amelie of Baden (2); her brother, the 12th Duke of Hamilton (2); her younger brother, 7th Earl of Selkirk (1); her cousin, Lady Susan Vane-Tempest (8); her cousin, the 6th Duke of Newcastle (7); his wife, the Duchess of Newcastle (8); and their son, the 7th Duke of Newcastle (2).
Lady Susan Vane-Tempest (1839-1875), daughter of the 5th Duke of Newcastle, was for several years a mistress of the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Fearful of a scandal, he distanced himself from her when she bore his illegitimate child in 1871. Nothing is known of the baby's subsequent fate. Lady Susan died four years later, aged only 35.
The album also contains a number of views of Hamilton Palace, the Hamilton Mausoleum, and Brodick Castle. There are also several reproductions of works of art depicting Lady Mary Victoria's ancestors: the notorious William Beckford: his wife Lady Margaret Gordon: and their daughter, Susan Euphemia Beckford, who married the 10th Duke of Hamilton in 1810.