Heading: (1786 Ben Franklin and the white African ‘King’ Benyowsky)
Author:
Title: Very rare 1786 letter from the widow of Count Maurice Benyowsky, explorer, adventurer and ill-fated white 'King' of Madagascar
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Description:

Countess [Zuzana] Benyowsky. Autograph Letter Signed. 3pp.+address leaf. Baltimore, September 9, 1786. In French, to a Madame [Crek?] at "Philadelphy". With red armorial seal. Not fully translated.

As she prepares to leave America for a trip to Europe, she thanks her correspondent for her friendship, wishes her prosperity and happiness, and gives her London forwarding address as care of J. Hyacinth de Magellan. After two years residence in America, where she was sponsored by Benjamin Franklin, the Countess was widowed, months before she wrote this letter, when her Hungarian-Polish husband, Count Maurice Benyowsky, the flamboyant explorer, adventurer and self-proclaimed "King" of the African island of Madagascar, was killed during a French attack on the small settlement he had taken as his capital. A very rare letter.

Address leaf crudely repaired with old scotch tape, affecting the postscript on the last page of the letter.