PEDRO V: (1837-1861) King of Portugal 1853-61. A rare A.L.S., Pedro, four pages, 4to, Lisbon, 5th January 1856, to ...

PEDRO V: (1837-1861) King of Portugal 1853-61. A rare A.L.S., Pedro, four pages, 4to, Lisbon, 5th January 1856, to General [William] Wylde. The King states that he has charged General Barrios to deliver his letter whilst 'studying military establishments and institutions particularly the ordnance in England, Belgium, Prussia, Austria, Piedmont and France' and further asking if Wylde may be of assistance to Barrios in his work, 'You will oblige me very much in obtaining for him an introduction to Lord Hardinge and in showing to him the military establishments at Woolwich. I hope you will too introduce him to Colonel Samuel Colt or in his absence to his brother the Judge whose revolver manufacture I wish the General to visit, as one of the most perfect establishments of that sort I have ever seen. The Senate arms factory at Enfield I would also wish General Barrios to visit and to be able to study'. In concluding the King also reflects on the happy days he previously spent in England. Autograph letters of King Pedro V are rare as a result of his tragically early death at the age of 24. Some very light creasing and minor age wear and with a contemporary ink annotation at the head of the first page, about VG William Wylde (1788-1877) British General, Master Gunner, St. James's Park 1868-77. Wylde also served as a Groom of the Bedchamber to Prince Albert. Samuel Colt (1814-1862) American Inventor & Industrialist who made the mass production of revolvers commercially viable. Colt had established a factory in London in 1853 although closed it during the course of 1856, the same year as the present letter.