[EMMA OF HAWAII]: (1836-1885) Queen of Hawaii 1856-63, consort of King Kamehameha IV. A quill ...

[EMMA OF HAWAII]: (1836-1885) Queen of Hawaii 1856-63, consort of King Kamehameha IV. A quill pen (7.5'' in length and with the remnants of a few white feathers still present) apparently used by Queen Emma on 21st and 22nd August 1865 during a stay with John Keble at Hursley Vicarage. Neatly tied to a black mount and with a lightly affixed 12mo note of provenance beneath, written in an unidentified hand and stating 'Pen used by Emma, Queen of Hawaii, 21 & 22 August 1865 at Hursley Vicarage'. Also included within the montage is a brief A.L.S. J Keble, by John Keble (1792-1866, English Churchman and Poet, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement), one page, small 12mo, n.p., n.d., to Rev. W. B. Wither, stating that he shall be happy to come on Monday; and an unsigned carte-de-visite photograph by Robert H. P. Preston of Penzance, the sepia albumen print depicting Keble standing in a full-length pose with his wife seated alongside, reading from a book. Framed and glazed in the original antique wooden frame to an overall size of 13 x 11. G to VG

From 1865-66 Queen Emma travelled to England and the United States of America for both health reasons and to assist the burgeoning Anglican mission in Hawaii. During her time in England she met Queen Victoria, Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie. A letter (perhaps written with the present quill) from Queen Emma and dated at Hursley, 21st August 1865, to the bishop Charles Sumner, brother of the Archbishop of Canterbury, is recorded in The Life of Charles Richard Sumner by George Henry Sumner (published by John Murray, London, 1876).