BIB_ID
283996
Accession number
MA 9801.5
Creator
Smith, Albert, 1816-1860.
Display Date
London, England, 1855 November 28.
Description
1 item (2 pages) ; 38.7 x 26.0 cm
Notes
The invitation is printed on thin blue paper to resemble a passport; being printed on the recto with a variation of the coat of arms of the United Kingdom at the top of the page and, under the text and after Smith's signature, an illustration, in the left corner, of mountaineers, on a mountain top, drinking a toast to the Queen with the caption "God save the Queen!" The verso contains three text blocks, two of them granting "Visa" access to various establishments and the third restricting use of the "passport" to the bearer only.
Smith delivered more than 2,000 performances over six years at the Egyptian Hall; "Mont Blanc" was billed as an "entertainment", and included dioramas as a back-drop for Smith's lectures which described his ascent of Mont Blanc.
Part of a small collection five items including signatures, menus and an invitation. See MA 9801.1, MA 9801.2, MA 9801.3 and MA 9801.4.
Smith delivered more than 2,000 performances over six years at the Egyptian Hall; "Mont Blanc" was billed as an "entertainment", and included dioramas as a back-drop for Smith's lectures which described his ascent of Mont Blanc.
Part of a small collection five items including signatures, menus and an invitation. See MA 9801.1, MA 9801.2, MA 9801.3 and MA 9801.4.
Summary
Being a humorous invitation to a dinner issued as a fake passport; saying "We, Albert Smith, One of Her Britannic Majesty's Representatives on the Summit of Mont Blanc, Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Grands Mulets, Baron Galignani of Piccadilly, Knight of the Grand Crossing from Burlington Arcade to the Egyptian Hall, Member of the Society for the Confusion of Useless Knowledge, Secretary for his Own Affairs, &c &c &c &c &c &c. / Request and require in the Name of His Majesty the Monarch of Mountains, all those whom it may concern, more especially the Police on the Piccadilly Frontier to allow / Wilkie Collins / British Subject / to pass freely in at the street door of the Egyptian Hall, and up stairs to the Mont Blanc Room, on the evening of Saturday, December the First 1855, at 8 P.M. and to afford him every assistance in the way of oysters, stout, champagne, soda and brandy, and other aid, of which he may stand in need. / Given at the Box Office, Piccadilly, the 28th day of November, 1855 / signed Albert Smith;" continuing on the verso "Vu au Bureau de la Salle / Bon pour entrer Piccadilly par / l'Arcade de Burlington. / Samedi, l. Décembre, 1855. / signed Truefitt;" continuing in a subsequent text bloc, "Viséed for the Garrick & Fielding Clubs, the Vaults below the Houses of Parliament, Truefitts Hair Cutting Saloon, the Glacier de Gunter, Jullien's, Laurent's, the Câfé de l'Europe, Pratt's, Limmer's, and all other places on the Rhine between Rule's Marine Museum, or Appetizing Aquarium, and The Jolly Grenadier Public House, No 1., Ellison Square, Pall Mall, South Sebastopol / signed "Rule;" ending, "Notice. - By the recent Police Enactments regulating large assemblages in the neighbourhood of Piccadilly, this Passport must be considered as available for one person only and does not include the 'friend' who has always been dining with the bearer."
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