1883 Bulgaria Tsar Ferdinand I Signed ALS to Grand Duke Vladimir Romanov Russia For Sale

For your consideration is an exceptionally rare autograph letter signed by Prince Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha-Kohry (18611948), the future Ferdinand I, Tsar of Bulgaria, written from Vienna on 3 December 1883 and addressed to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia (18471909), son of Emperor Alexander II and brother of Emperor Alexander III. Written entirely in Ferdinands hand in elegant French and signed with his princely name and dynastic designation, the letter dates from four years before his election as Prince of Bulgaria in 1887 and twenty-five years before his assumption of the title Tsar. It therefore represents a particularly desirable survival from Ferdinands little-represented pre-accession life within the interconnected Coburg, Orlans, and Romanov dynastic world of late nineteenth-century Europe.
Ferdinand writes deferentially to Vladimir as Votre Altesse Impriale, the correct style for a Russian grand duke, and offers him a photograph intended to recall de beaux jours they had shared. He warmly remembers Vladimirs bienveillant et cordial accueil, refers to Paris and to Chantilly, and describes the recipient in connection with the aristocratic hunting society surrounding the celebrated estate. Of particular historical interest is Ferdinands reference to his brother Auguste, Prince Ludwig August of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (18451907), himself a noted and passionate sportsman, expressing the hope of seeing again the agreeable and enthusiastic hunter who had evidently enjoyed his time at Chantilly. The letter concludes with Ferdinand asking His Imperial Highness to accept the expression of his respectueux dvouement, followed by his bold autograph signature.
The manuscript is written on Ferdinands highly distinctive personal princely stationery, prominently embossed in gilt with a crowned Saxon armorial shield bearing the diagonal crancelin, surrounded by the identifying legend FERDINAND DE SAXE-COBOURG. This personalized armorial heading provides exceptionally strong internal authentication of the sender and corresponds precisely to Ferdinands identity before his Bulgarian accession. Combined with the Vienna dateline, the autograph text, the dynastic signature, the repeated Imperial Highness address, and the manuscripts references to Ferdinands brother and the Chantilly social circle, the document forms a coherent and unusually well-documented piece of European royal correspondence.
Measuring approximately 9 by 7.25 inches, the letter retains its original folds and gilt armorial device, with the manuscript remaining clear and highly presentable. Historically, it captures the future Bulgarian sovereign at only twenty-two years of age, moving within the elite international network that connected the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha with the Romanovs and the French Orlans dynasty. As an early autograph of Ferdinand I of Bulgaria addressed to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia, with direct references to Chantilly, princely hunting society, and Ferdinands own family circle, it is a compelling primary-source document of European dynastic culture immediately before Ferdinands emergence as one of the most consequential Balkan monarchs of the modern era.