Gille

P5942 — Paris: Gide 1861. Octavo 24.5 × 16 cm. Later cloth with original front and rear wrappers preserved; 4 61 1 pp. The wrappers lightly chipped else very good. This effusive memoir about Empress Alexandra Fedorovna nee Charlotte of Prussia 1798-1960 wife of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia was written by Floriant Gille a French tutor to the children of Nicholas I and a confidant of the Empress. Published in Paris just after her death the text is a commemorative tribute to the Empress sharing anecdotes from her life with her family and at court. Nicholas I on the throne 1825-1855 came to power after the Decembrist uprising but Alexandra Fedorovna was known to sympathize with the wives of the exiled Decembrists and generally had a good reputation in Russia and abroad. This copy of the memoir contains a contemporary photograph of a portrait of the Empress sewn into the binding after the title page. Scarce; no copies found in the trade. hardcover books