ELIZABETH I. DOCUMENT SIGNED, 1593

commanding Sir Thomas Heneage to pay £133 6s. 8d., to her chief almoner Richard Fletcher, Bishop of Worcester, or his assistant John Dix, as Maundy money for distribution during Holy Week, one vellum membrane (175 x 257mm), "at our manor of St James", 7 April 1593, papered seal, docketed on the verso by Dix, window mounted, together with two prints of Elizabeth I, bound in brown straight-grained morocco gilt, lettered on the upper cover, inside dentelles, blue endpapers, small smudge to signature, spotted

Vivien Leigh (1913-67); thence by descent

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."

The distribution of money by the English royal family on Maundy Thursday is a ceremony that stretches back to the 13th century, although the striking of coins specifically for the purpose only began in the 1660s under Charles II. The distribution of royal alms is the responsibility of the Lord High Almoner, in this case Richard Fletcher (1544/5-1596), father of the great Jacobean dramatist John Fletcher who collaborated with Shakespeare and was his successor as playwright to the King's Men. The date and circumstances of Vivien Leigh's acquisition of this document are unknown, but it is listed in a 1948 inventory of her country home Notley Abbey. It may have been a gift associated with a performance, most likely her first major film role in the 1937 Elizabethan romance Fire Over England, in which Vivien played a lady-in-waiting to the ageing Queen, whose heroic lover (Laurence Olivier, in their first pairing) engaged himself in uncovering perfidious traitors and (not entirely single-handedly) thwarting the Spanish Armada. Flora Robson as Queen Elizabeth had the best lines, mostly taken as they were from genuine speeches by the Queen.