2pp, 6.25 x 10.25 in., on blue paper; Lexington (VA), 11 Sept. 1873. To M. Gillaume and signed Mary Custis Lee. Written just two months before her death, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (1807-1873) is writing to regarding a memento of General Lee. I have looked among the articles used by Genl Lee my dear Mr. Gillaume to find something worthy of your acceptance but so many had been distributed among his many friends & relatives that I only find this memento for you which you must use for the sake of him whom you so loved and venerated. I do not know its history exactly but it is a Mexican blanket & was sent to Genl Lee during the war. I know no one more worthy to possess it than yourself to whom I am indebted for so many kindnesses. She goes on to tell him that there is a railroad which has been started that is to connect them to Stanton, and when it is completed he should come and visit. It is doubtful that the line was completed soon enough. She also notes that she is enclosing two photographs, one is a good likeness, the other not so much so. Mary was the only surviving child of George Washington ("Wash") Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, daughter of William Fitzhugh and Ann Bolling Randolph. Although not seen as a real beauty in her day, her sparkling personality made her a favorite in "high society" of Alexandria in the first half of the 19th century. Well educated and able to read French, Greek and Latin (as well as English, obviously), she prided herself on reading newspapers daily and staying abreast of political events. Although she had other suitors, such as Sam Houston, she fell in love with her distant cousin, Robert, whom she had known since childhood. They married in 1831, after his graduation from West Point, and worked to maintain the family in the life of a military professional. The couple had seven children, three sons and four daughters, in spite of Robert's stations, sometimes distant, and Mary's frequent illness. She was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (though some question this, given the state of 19th century medicine), and by the start of the Civil War was confined to a wheelchair. But she was able to continue writing and even painting until the end of her life. The recipient is likely Louis-Mathieu Guillaume, one of the best, and best known, portraitists in Virginia during the Civil War. Guillaume is known for his work "Surrender of General Lee to General Grant, April 9, 1865," as well as portraits of six Confederate leaders. This would fit with Mary's comments about the quality of the portraits of herself that she was sending him. Born and trained in France, Guillaume immigrated in 1855, working for a few years in New York before settling in Richmond. Condition: Toning around edges. Minor scattered foxing.
2pp, 6.25 x 10.25 in., on blue paper; Lexington (VA), 11 Sept. 1873. To M. Gillaume and signed Mary Custis Lee. Written just two months before her death, Mary Anna Randolph Custis Lee (1807-1873) is writing to regarding a memento of General Lee. I have looked among the articles used by Genl Lee my dear Mr. Gillaume to find something worthy of your acceptance but so many had been distributed among his many friends & relatives that I only find this memento for you which you must use for the sake of him whom you so loved and venerated. I do not know its history exactly but it is a Mexican blanket & was sent to Genl Lee during the war. I know no one more worthy to possess it than yourself to whom I am indebted for so many kindnesses. She goes on to tell him that there is a railroad which has been started that is to connect them to Stanton, and when it is completed he should come and visit. It is doubtful that the line was completed soon enough. She also notes that she is enclosing two photographs, one is a good likeness, the other not so much so. Mary was the only surviving child of George Washington ("Wash") Parke Custis, George Washington's step-grandson, and Mary Lee Fitzhugh Custis, daughter of William Fitzhugh and Ann Bolling Randolph. Although not seen as a real beauty in her day, her sparkling personality made her a favorite in "high society" of Alexandria in the first half of the 19th century. Well educated and able to read French, Greek and Latin (as well as English, obviously), she prided herself on reading newspapers daily and staying abreast of political events. Although she had other suitors, such as Sam Houston, she fell in love with her distant cousin, Robert, whom she had known since childhood. They married in 1831, after his graduation from West Point, and worked to maintain the family in the life of a military professional. The couple had seven children, three sons and four daughters, in spite of Robert's stations, sometimes distant, and Mary's frequent illness. She was eventually diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (though some question this, given the state of 19th century medicine), and by the start of the Civil War was confined to a wheelchair. But she was able to continue writing and even painting until the end of her life. The recipient is likely Louis-Mathieu Guillaume, one of the best, and best known, portraitists in Virginia during the Civil War. Guillaume is known for his work "Surrender of General Lee to General Grant, April 9, 1865," as well as portraits of six Confederate leaders. This would fit with Mary's comments about the quality of the portraits of herself that she was sending him. Born and trained in France, Guillaume immigrated in 1855, working for a few years in New York before settling in Richmond. Condition: Toning around edges. Minor scattered foxing.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
