Elizabeth, Queen of Bohemia

Sending greetings by Monsieur de Vu, "who will give you a true relation of all that passed at Hambourg," whilst "by Sir William Bourde you will understand the particullars of the misfortune that is happened to Count Williams troupe," 1 page, folio (260 x 180 mm), "Rene" [Rhenen, Gelderland], 15/25 June 1636, integral autograph address leaf, contemporary endorsement ("The Queene of Bohemia to His M: d[elivere]d to me by His M: 27: 8 4:"), later endorsement, black wax seal impressions; strengthened. Red morocco-backed folder.

Sotheby's, 14 December 1989, lot 187 . acquisition: H.D. Lyon, 1990

A rare letter by the "Winter Queen" to her brother, Charles I. Elizabeth had married Frederick, Elector Palatine, in 1613. Five years later Frederick was created King of Bohemia, an event which sparked the Thirty Years War. By 1636 Elizabeth was a widow living in exile in the Netherlands, and she continued to try to gain more active support from her brother for her political and military cause.