[Charles Conway Thornton, Second Secretary at the British Embassy, Berlin.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Conway Thornton') to Lady Florence Head, providing a detailed 'list of times & places' for a reception in the Stadtschloss, Berlin.

Author: 
Charles Conway Thornton (1851-1902), successively Second Secretary at the British Embassy, Berlin, and Consul-General at Budapest [Lady Florence Head, wife of Sir Robert Garnett Head (1845-1907)]
Publication details: 
Berlin [on British Government embossed letterhead]. 19 January 1893.
£45.00
SKU: 14855

5pp., 12mo. The letter proper is three pages long, on a bifolium, and is accompanied by a two-page 'list of times & places' on a separate leaf. Very good, on lightly-aged paper. With 18 x 23 cm letterhead, on the cover of which Thornton has written 'To | Sir Robert Head. Bart. | III | Zimmer Strasse 97 | Hier.', with his signature 'C. Thornton' in the bottom left-hand corner. The letter begins: 'Dear Lady Head, | I inclose herewith a list of times & places for tonight's function, which will I hope prove sufficient.' Thornton is also inclosing 'a card, to be placed in the Coachman's hat, and which will enable your carriage to get out of the ordinary ruck'. He asks her to be 'very careful to recover the card from the Coachman', and to return it, 'as we shall require it in the evening'. He ends by stating when the Thorntons propose to leave their house, 'as even with the Cards, progress may be slow.' The separate leaf, carrying the 'list of times & places' referred to in the letter, is also on an official letterhead, and begins: 'Invitation for 7 o'c precisely. | Carriages to enter Palace by Portal No. 5 | and to proceed to the door of the Staircase Wendeltreppe | To assemble in the Brandenburgische Kammer and Rothe [sic] Kammer. | Throne room in the Rittersaal. | After the reception, we shall descend the staircase known as Weisse-Saal Treppe, and the carriages will be in waiting under Portal No. 3'.