Queen Elizabeth I

lamenting her limited financial resources ("...my house is chargeable unto me ... And ... I have but small groundes in hand to releve the provysions therof...") and asking for his support in a dispute over title to some land connected to Elsyng Palace ("...I am constrained ernestlye to move you to stand with me Against the Demaunde of one that names hymselfe to be your servant for the title of certen groundes which Allwayes were ment to lye Aparte for the provision of this house..."), assuring him that "my trust is that ye will for my sake rather procure more for me then ever consent to my hynderaunce, especially when my necessitie is this touched" and promising to "do a good torne" to the servant who has been promised the lands in question, 1 page, oblong folio (213 x 310mm), integral address leaf, Enfield, 21 April 1550, slight splitting at folds, small tear (20mm) without loss, seal tear

Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"...It should litell content me t'understand that servauntes shuld be any occasion of onkyndekesse which in such cases somtyme might be engendred..."

AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE LETTER SIGNED BY ELIZABETH BEFORE COMING TO THE THRONE, IN WHICH THE YOUNG PRINCESS ASSERTS HER CASE FOR RETAINING LANDS CONNECTED WITH HER NEW HOME.

We have no auction records of any letter signed by Elizabeth as a Princess: the earliest letter for which we have a record was written three days after she became Queen (sold in these rooms, 15 July 1999, lot 15). Elizabeth had already adopted the characteristic letter-forms of her mature signature when she signed this letter at the age of 16, indeed the earliest known letter signed in this way was written some three years earlier (to King Edward VI, 20 September 1547), and her writing in the brief subscription above the signature is also very similar to later letters. The signature's striking feature is the paraph after her name, a quatrefoil flourish that forms a highly stylised "P", and which is clearly modelled on signature of Elizabeth's father, King Henry VIII. This telling detail reminds us how much Elizabeth identified herself as her father's daughter; this is the woman who, as Queen, would meet diplomatic visitors to Whitehall Palace standing in front of Holbein's famous mural of the Tudor dynasty, which was dominated by a formidable full-length portrait of her father.

Elsyng Palace in Enfield had been built by Sir Thomas Lovell (1449-1524), who settled the house and manor on Thomas Manner, Earl of Rutland. It came into royal hands when Rutland exchanged Elsyng for former monastic lands with King Henry VIII in 1539. Elizabeth had been at the palace with her brother Edward when they were informed of their father's death, and it had been given to her for life as part of an extensive grant of lands in March 1550. As Comptroller of the Household, Lord Paget would have organised the grant to Elizabeth, and the princess evidently felt that he had over-reached himself by stripping the palace of lands to give to a servant. This letter shows a shrewd political operator at work, even at the age of sixteen, and one can only hope, for Paget's sake, that he took seriously her warning that "onkyndness ... might be engendered" if he did not comply with her wishes.