Letter, signed (“Nicolas”), to the Duke of Schleswig-Holstein, St. Petersburg 20 January 1901, a formal expression of condolence on the death of Prince Christian Victor

St. Petersburg, 1901. One-page secretarial letter in French on mourning stationery, with a secretarial copy marked in ink Copie … signé Nicolas. 1 vols. 10 x 8 inches. Old folds, generally fine. With transcription and translation. One-page secretarial letter in French on mourning stationery, with a secretarial copy marked in ink Copie … signé Nicolas. 1 vols. 10 x 8 inches. A formal note of condolence from Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias, styled “le bon Cousin” in the closing, addressed to Ernst Gunther II (1863-1921), third Duke of Schleswig-Holstein ("Monsieur Mon Cousin!"), after learning of the death of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, a grandson of Queen Victoria and British officer who died of malaria in Pretoria on 29 October 1900.

A somber and attractive autograph documenting the close connections between the royal and imperial household of prewar Europe. Provenance: Dr. Herbert Ernest Klingelhofer (1915-2015), collector and former President of the Manuscript Society (bought from Karl Faber, 1957)