Charles I

Acknowledging the reasons for his failure to conclude a treaty with King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden and assuring him that "so far from laing anie falte to your charge, for the ill success of [your embassy], that I estime you more for this, then if ye had concluded a Treatie with little difficultie," with a wry postscript to the Marquess of Hamilton, who had been serving under the Swedish King ("...tell him he hes beene long anufe at Scole under a curst Scoolemaister..."), one page, folio (280 x 195 mm), docketed, Hampton Court, 24 September 1632; laid down, remains of window mount.
[With:] Autograph letter signed by Elizabeth of Bohemia ("Elizabeth"), to Sir Henry Vane ("Honest Harry"), asking if her brother-in-law (Louis Philip, Count Palatine of Simmern) is as ugly as rumoured, reporting of a mysterious high-ranking visitor to the Hague, and informing him that "there is [a] furiuse decree out against [Hugo] Grotius," 2 pages, folio (247 x 170 mm), integral blank, docketed, the Hague, 4 April [1632]; laid down, remains of window mount.
Housed together in a red morocco-backed folder.

Bonhams, 16 November 2004, lots 393 and 409. acquisition: Purchased at the foregoing sale through Bernard Quaritch

Sir Henry Vane (1589-1655) was an early favorite of Charles I and accompanied him on his vain expedition to Spain to woo the Infanta when he was Prince of Wales. He later gained the trust of the King's sister, Elizabeth, the "Winter Queen" of Bohemia, during years spent as her brother's representative at the Hague. In 1631 Vane was sent to Sweden to negotiate an agreement with Gustavus Adolphus, then the most successful Protestant leader in the Thirty Years War. It was hoped that an English pension would convince him to fight to restore the Palatinate to Elizabeth's husband, but the level of Charles's proposed support was woefully inadequate. As this letter shows, Charles was far from dismayed at this diplomatic failure. Vane was not to remain a loyal servant of the Stuarts: in 1641 he played a crucial role in the fall of the Earl of Strafford, alienating the King and helping to precipitate the Civil War.