

Lots 58 - 63 form the Order of St Andrew presentation made to the 2nd Duke during Tsar Alexander II’s State Visit to Great Britain in May 1874. At the end of the visit the Duke wrote to his mother, on 23 May: ‘Thank God, the visit of the Emperor of Russia passed off well. All was well done and the reception friendly and good in every way… …He gave me the St Andrew’s Order which carries with it all the other great Orders of Russia, so that I am now bien decore with Russian Orders!’