Beschreibung:

OLGA, TATIANA, MARIA AND ANASTASIIA NIKOLAEVNA, Grand Duchesses of Russia, daughters of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (slain 17 July 1918). A collection of 29 autograph postcards signed by the Grand Duchesses, addressed to Daria Petrovna Gesse, mostly with greetings on holidays and feast days, in Russian, mostly Tsarskoe selo, 1910-1918, each c. 87 x 140mm, together in a modern blue half morocco slip-case; comprising
OLGA, TATIANA, MARIA AND ANASTASIIA NIKOLAEVNA, Grand Duchesses of Russia, daughters of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna (slain 17 July 1918). A collection of 29 autograph postcards signed by the Grand Duchesses, addressed to Daria Petrovna Gesse, mostly with greetings on holidays and feast days, in Russian, mostly Tsarskoe selo, 1910-1918, each c. 87 x 140mm, together in a modern blue half morocco slip-case; comprising: Olga (born 1895): 14 postcards signed in Cyrillic ('Ol'ga'), Tsarskoe Selo, Livadia, Tobolsk and n.p., 2 January 1910 - 11/29 March 1918, sending greetings for New Year, Easter, including from Livadia in 1912, thanking for a card in 1913 on a card of the Tsarevich, and the final card from Tobolsk dated in her hand, addressed to the recipient in Kiev, and post-marked 30 March, franked again in Petrograd on 16 August with a stamp 'Returned due to military circumstances', in which she thanks for a letter received earlier, saying all are well, mentioning the weather, that they were working in the garden, ending 'Tseluiu krepko' (I kiss you tenderly). Tatiana (born 1897): 9 postcards signed in Cyrillic ('Tat'iana'), Tsarskoe Selo, Livadia and n.p., 3 January 1910 - New Year 1916/17 and n.d., thanking for cards and sending greetings at New Year, the recipient's name's day, and Easter, including that from Livadia in 1914, expressed with warmth, including one undated, where the Grand Duchess ends 'Tseluiu krepko' (I kiss you warmly). Olga and Tatiana: One postcard signed by both in Cyrillic, dated Tsarskoe Selo 19 March 1910. Maria (born 1899): One postcard signed in Cyrillic ('Mariia'), postmarked Tsarskoe Selo 20 April 1910, sending Easter greetings, and giving the recipient's address as 'Zdes' (Here). Anastasia (born 1901): One postcard signed in Cyrillic ('Anastasiia'), postmarked Tsarskoe Selo 20 April 1910, sending Easter greetings. Maria and Anastasia: 3 postcards signed by both, sending greetings for New Year 1913, for Easter undated, and Christmas 1916. A HIGHLY EMOTIVE SERIES OF CARDS ADDRESSED BY THE GRAND DUCHESSES, including one sent shortly before their tragic demise, to Daria Petrovna Gesse (1890-1977), the daughter of General Petr Pavlovich Gesse, chief of security at the palace of Tsarskoe selo from 1890 to 1906, a hero of the Russo-Turkish war of 1877-78, and aide-de-camp to the Emperor. Her mother Maria Nikolaevna, née Kozlianinova, was play-mate to the children, companion and later lady-in-waiting to Grand Duchess Olga. From the tone of all the cards she was loved by the children and was treated informally. The final letter by Olga from Tobolsk on 16/29 March 1918, published in Letters of the Tsar's Family from Prison , explains how she wonders if her letters are not delivered to her recipient, as before, and sending this card. She talks of the weather, the storm after bright sunshine, and asks after Irina Tolstaia and her mother. The military situation, the reason the card was not delivered, was that the Ukraine was occupied by the Germans, and civil war was raging there as well as in Russia. The Petrograd stamp is dated a month after the whole Imperial family was murdered in Ekaterinburg and their bodies dumped into a mineshaft. They have all since been canonised by the Russian Orthodox Church. A portrait of Daria Petrovna and her brother Illarion dated 1899 by Iosif Emmanuilovich Braz is preserved in the Iaroslavl Art Museum. She survived the revolution and emigrated to the United States and died in Santa Barbara. (29)