Marlborough, John Churchill, 1st Duke of

Reporting a meeting with Count Wratislaw, the Imperial envoy in London ("...I shall refer my self to him to tell you as he has promised me to do, how much I am inclin'd to what is proposed in case the states will come into it...") expressing his pleasure at the Count's support of the Allied cause, with a seven-line autograph postscript asking "what use is intended att Vienna ... of Prince Eugene", 2 page, 4to (227 x 175 mm), integral blank, docketed, "Camp at Hanness", 22 June 1703; light spotting and browning, neat repairs.
[with:] receipt signed as John Churchill ("Churchill"), 29 October 1679; mounted with a fragment of a receipt signed "Churchill" (apparently as Lord Churchill), no date; fragment of a document signed as Earl of Marlborough ("Marlborough"), 3 March 1702; and three other items. Six items housed together in a red folding-box and morocco-backed slipcase.

Enys family of Enys, Cornwall (Bonham's, 28 September 2004, lot 97). acquisition: Christopher Edwards, 2005

This letter — written on campaign in the Low Countries — shows Marlborough working to strengthen the alliance against the French in the early stages of the War of the Spanish Succession. Count Wratislaw von Mitrowitz was a friend of Eugene of Savoy, Marlborough's key ally both on the battlefield and as a reformer within the Holy Roman Empire.