Drop Head Title Patriotic Declaration Gracious (1 results)

Single leaf broadside. Mounted on later card sheet. [Together with:] [Drop-head title:] Biographical sketch of his Royal Highness the duke of kent; Father of her present Majesty. [London]. Hodson, [1837?] Dimensions 220 x 370 mm. Single leaf broadside. Mounted on later card sheet. [And:] [Drop-head title:] The answer to the address of the city of london, of her Royal Highness, the duchess of kent; on the occasion of the princess victoria completing her 18th year. Made May 28, 1837. [London]. Hodson, [1837?] Dimensions 220 x 370 mm. Single leaf broadside. Mounted on later card sheet. Some light spotting. A trio of contemporaneous, penny silhouette broadsides issued in the year of the young Queen Victoria's accession to the throne. The first records the young monarch's accession proclamation, delivered at the behest of the Lords of Council at Kensington Palace on 20th June, 1837, mere hours following the death of William IV, in which she laments her uncle's death and humbly commits to 'steadily protect the rights, and promote to the utmost of my power the happiness and welfare of all classes of my subjects'. The second, evidently issued to profit from the young queen taking to the throne, presents a succinct laudatory sketch of the life of her father, Edward, Duke of Kent (1767-1820), with particular emphasis on his commands in North America, which concludes with the somewhat anachronistic and overly saccharine line: 'The character of his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent is inserted on the books of almost every charitable institution in London. The public knew his virtues well and will every deplore his loss'. The final broadside reports the speech delivered by Victoria's mother, the Duchess of Kent on the occasion of her daughter's eighteenth birthday, in which she emphasises Victoria's suitability for the role of monarch and reiterates her own contribution to making certain daughter was raised to appreciate her 'first earthly duty as a Constitutional Sovereign'. A copy of the address delivered by the Duchess of Kent is recorded in the holdings of the British Museum; the other two broadsides are apparently unrecorded institutionally. Size: Dimensions 220 x 370 mm.