[Letter to Jacques de Germigny in Constantinople (Istanbul)].

A signed letter written by Catherine de' Medici (1519-1589) from her favourite palace, Château de Chenonceau near the small village of Chenonceaux in the Loire valley near Tours, to Jacques de Germigny (d.1587? not 1596?), French ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. Catherine, mother of King Henri III, last of the Valois kings of France, was a powerful and colourful figure, often running the government for her son and familiar in literature from the historical novels of Alexandre Dumas. In the present letter she arranges an exchange of gifts with the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (1546-1595). Germigny had written to her on 17 July concerning various items he had selected and she asks him to send [the gifts from the Sultan?] to André Hurault de Maisse (1539-1607) at Venice, who was France's ambassador there. She also suggests a change in one item they are giving the Sultan. She signed it "Catrine"[?] and her Secretary of State Pierre Brulart signed it at the foot. The letter was stored folded horizontally and eight small worm holes run through the eight layers, but they barely touch an occasional letter of the text. There are also a few small marginal tears. In very good condition and with the whole sheet of paper untrimmed. An informative letter written by Catherina de' Medici concerning the exchange of gifts between France and the Ottoman Sultan. Folded for sending and addressed on the outside, with a slot for a ribbon and traces of a red wax seal. Signed letter in French, in brown ink on paper, written in a clear gothic hand. Pages: [1], [3 blank (except for address)] pp.…