14 - BONAPARTE Catherine of WURTEMBERG, Princess Jérôme (1783–1835), Queen of Westphalia.

BONAPARTE Catherine of WURTEMBERG, Princess Jérôme (1783–1835), Queen of Westphalia. Autograph letter signed “Catherine,” Fermo, August 24, 1825, to Mr. Girard; 4 pages, small quarto. Description: She expresses concern about Girard’s health, his isolation, and his plans to travel to Poland; she mentions Countess Altems, whom she advises against drinking donkey’s milk. As for her nieces’ marriages, she “has little approval for all these ill-matched unions; our little Azoline was upset by the failure of his proposal, his imagination—and perhaps even more so his pride—had been flattered by the idea of winning my niece’s hand; he was truly smitten with her without ever having seen her except in a portrait, and perhaps in reality he would have been less enchanted by her”… Her stay in Fermo is very pleasant; she mentions her visits to Countess Bonacorsa and the fair in Sinigaglia… “At the moment, the city of Fermo, with its theater and fair, is drawing all the foreigners from the surrounding area; as you can imagine, we didn’t want to be the last to go there; the Nannarini Palace, which is at least as beautiful as ours in Rome, was offered to us by the owners with the eagerness with which people here welcome us, but the theater does not live up to our expectations; the plays are poor; & in general, a seria opera is too ambitious an undertaking for mediocre talents”…