The Principal Speeches and Addresses of His Royal Highness The Prince Consort.

VICTORIA, Queen; Prince Albert.

Item Number: 18088

London: John Murray, 1862.

First edition. Octavo, bound in full brown morocco, gilt tooling and titles to the spine, front and rear panel, with Albert’s insignia on the front and rear panels, all edges gilt. Inscribed by Queen Victoria on the first flyleaf, “To M. Van de Weyer In recollection of the sincere friendship which existed for so many years between him & the beloved Prince brokenhearted Widow VictoriaReg Osborne East Cowes, 29 December 1862.” The recipient, Sylvain Van de Weyer was the former Prime Minister of Belgium. With a letter by the Queen’s personal attendant Lady Augusta Bruce, forwarding the book, bound in. Housed in a custom cloth clamshell box.

Queen Victoria's reign of 63 years and seven months is known as the Victorian era. It was a period of industrial, cultural, political, scientific, and military change within the United Kingdom, and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire. She was the last British monarch of the House of Hanover. Her son and successor, Edward VII, belonged to the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, the line of his father. Victoria married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, in 1840. Their nine children married into royal and noble families across the continent, tying them together and earning her the sobriquet "the grandmother of Europe". After Albert's death in 1861, Victoria plunged into deep mourning and avoided public appearances. As a result of her seclusion, republicanism temporarily gained strength, but in the latter half of her reign her popularity recovered. Her Golden and Diamond Jubilees were times of public celebration.