Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881) of Russia, collection of autograph letters to his mistress Princess Catherine Dolgorukova.
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Primarily in French, most numbered, not signed, a total of approximately 788 sheets, many folded. Several leaves with blind stamp featuring the imperial monogram. Some letters likely written by Catherine Dolgorukova.
Stored in three boxes marked with dates: 18 August 1866, 11 January 1867; 19 August-31 December 1866, 30 August-28 September 1868, and 2 January, 26 December 1879. Not examined.
Provenance
Tsar Alexander II (1818-1881) of Russia and Princess Catherine Dolgorukova (1847-1922).
The financier and book publisher Tomas Fischer (1940-2022).
More information
Princess Catherine Dolgorukova, called "Katia" by Tsar Alexander II, became his mistress in 1866. They maintained a lively correspondence, often exchanging several letters a day, meticulously time-stamped, but they avoided using their names hence the letters are not signed. The correspondence is famous for its frankness regarding their sex life; they had a code word for sex, "bingerle". Catherine had four children with the tsar, and he styled her Princess Yurievskaya. In 1880 they married morganatically, shortly after Alexander II became a widower.