Mar 02, 2023 - Sale 2628
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Sale 2628 - Lot 39

Price Realized: $ 750
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,000 - $ 2,000
PIUS IX; POPE. Two items: Autograph Letter Signed, "Pius P[ontifex]M[aximus] IX," and an Autograph Note, unsigned, each to his eldest brother Gabriel Mastai, in Italian. The first, discussing the proposed wedding of Mastai's son, remarking that marriages are only rarely blessed by God, noting the birthdate of an unnamed woman, stating that he has bequeathed the lands on the bank of the Cesano, giving their value, adding that the Empress of Russia is expected in Rome, and closing with an Easter Blessing. The second, written on the integral blank of Mastai's letter to him, assuring him that he is convalescing and will be returning in a few days, and remarking cynically on the current state of the world. Mastai's letter, inquiring about the Pope's health and suggesting remedies for swollen legs. Together 3 pages, 4to or 8vo, first with integral address leaf and second on folded sheet; first with small hole from seal (without loss to text). Np, 14 April 1857; 27 August [1859]
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Additional Details

14 April 1857: ". . . You speak to me of marriage for the . . . son Luigi; . . . I have always refrained from intervening with my suggestions . . . . I have heard it said that Luigi was . . . to deal with them more for speculation than for another end. Marriages are made such, I believe, and on rare occasions are they blessed by God. . . . I don't know what else to tell you except that in the Roman Almanac it is recorded that the lady was born September 15, 1825. . . . [T]he deceased father of this lady lived and died as a great Gentleman . . . and better Christian. . . ."
27 August [1859]: "Infirmitas haec non est ad mortem. [This illness is not unto death.] . . . The things of the world have become a fat comedy, and so the charlatans are making their fortunes."
With--Group of 4 letters to members of the Mastai family from various senders, in French or Italian: "Szymanowski" to Luigi Mastai, mentioning Garibaldi; Zygmunt Krasinski to Louis Mastai; [Unknown] to Gabriel Mastai; "De Vico" to Count [Mastai], responding to news of death of Gabrielle Mastai Ferretti. Together 9 pages, 4to or 8vo. Naples, 14 August 1849; Baden, 24 April 1857; [Rome], 1 February 1859; Paris, 7 May 1869.