913902
Queen Victoria
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Alexandrina Victoria, 1819-1901. Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, 1837-1901. Partially printed Document Signed, Victoria RI, two pages (front and back), with integral leaf attached, 8" x 13", Court of St. James’s, September 28, 1886.
In the 50th year of her reign, The Queen remits the sentence of a man ”convicted of drunkenness and refusing to quit licensed premises" in consideration of "some circumstances humbly represented unto Us."
Queen Victoria gave her name to an era. Her reign saw great industrial expansion and economic progress in Britain, but it is better known for the empire itself.
Victoria was only 18 years old when she acceded to the throne upon the death of her uncle, King William IV, on June 20, 1837. She had turned 18 less than a month earlier, on May 24. She reigned for the next 63½ years until she died, at age 81, on January 22, 1901. At her death, it was said, Britain had a worldwide empire on which the sun never set.
She married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha in 1840. Their nine children married into many of the other royal families of Europe, including those of Denmark, Germany, and Russia. She had 42 grandchildren. Two of her grandsons were enemies during World War I: King George V ruled Britain, while Wilhelm II ruled Germany. One of her granddaughters married Nicholas II, who was deposed during the Communist revolution in Russia.
Prince Albert died in 1861, and the Queen, who virtually worshiped him, suffered deep depression as a result. For the next 25 years she lived in seclusion on the Isle of Wight, in Scotland, and rarely appeared in public. The 1887 Golden Jubilee celebration of her fiftieth year of reign, however, brought her back into the public. Her popularity began to rise, and she remained popular the rest of her life. Both the Golden Jubilee and the Diamond Jubilee ten years later were marked with great displays and public ceremonies. In her later years, she became the symbol of the British Empire.
Parenthetically, there is no discrepancy in the dating of this document. As noted above, this document correctly says that Victoria signed it during the 50th year of her reign. She was not on the throne 50 full years, however, until June 20, 1837. For that reason her Golden Jubilee celebration did not occur until 1887.
Victoria has signed with a large 4½" fountain pen signature. The paper and wax seal is intact. The document has horizontal folds, a small stain toward the bottom, and a few small holes at the bottom edge, none of which affects the signature. The integral leaf has mounting remnants on the back, a few holes at the top, and a small, archivally-repaired fold split at one edge. Overall this is a nice, clean document in fine condition.
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