Monsieur!
S. A. P et R <1> le Gran Duc mon Souverain a eu la clemence de m’ordonner de vous remerçier beaucoup de l’ouvrage, que vous avez lui offert [sic], ce que je fais avec cette même lettre.–
C’est pour moi bien agreable de vous temoigner la bonté avec la quelle a voulu S. A donner moi cet ordre, dans le même temp qu’il doit bien être de satisfaction pour vous.
Je suis
Florence De L’ P et R Secrétaire de Court
Le 6. Mars. 1845
Votre très humble Serviteur Le comte de la Sherardessa[?] Grand Maitre de l'P. et R. cour de Toscane
M Fox Talbot
Londres
Translation:
Sir!
His Princely and Royal Highness the Grand Duke, my Sovereign, has been so gracious as to order me to thank you very much for the work which you gave him, which I am doing in this letter.–
It is a great pleasure for me to tell you of the kindness which His Majesty expressed in giving me this order, just as it must be of some satisfaction to you.
I am
Florence the Princely and Royal Court Secretary
6 March 1845
Your very humble Servant, The Count of Sherardessa[?], Grand Master to the Princely and Royal court of Tuscany
Mr Fox Talbot
London
[envelope:]
A Monsieur
Monsr Fox Talbot
a
Londres
Notes:
1. Son Altesse Princier et Royale [His Princely and Royal Highness]: Leopold II, Leopoldo Giovanni Giuseppe Francesco Ferdinando Carlo (1797-1870), Grand Duke of Tuscany 1824-1859.
2. This was a thank you for No. 1 of WHFT's The Pencil of Nature (London: Longman, Green, Brown, and Longmans, 1844). WHFT had sent this via his friend Prof Giovanni Battista Amici (1786-1868) - see Doc. No: 05023. It was inscribed (probably in the hand of one of his sisters): "A sua Altezza Imple eĨe Leopoldo IIo Gran Duc di Toscana omaggio dell' Autore". It is now preserved in the Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale in Florence. See Larry J. Schaaf, Introductory Volume to the Anniversary Facsimile of H. Fox Talbot's The Pencil of Nature (New York: Hans P. Kraus, Jr., Inc., 1989), p. 81.