Description:

Disraeli Benjamin


Benjamin Disraeli ALS Regarding Anglo-Greek Bonds and Investment Strategies

 

4pp ALS inscribed overall and signed by Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881) as "B. Disraeli" at bottom of fourth page. Written at Grosvenor Gate in London, England on August 20, 1850. Cream paper with expected paper folds, some well-worn and repaired, and a few closed tears. Minor weathering to the fourth page, else very good to near fine condition. Each page measures 7.125" x 8.875".

 

Benjamin Disraeli wrote to work associate Thomas Loftus about investment strategies, ostensibly unrelated to Disraeli's purview as a member of British Parliament. The letter reveals Disraeli's deep understanding of the stock market and anticipates his three terms as future Chancellor of the Exchequer.

 

In the letter, Disraeli mentioned his client Mrs. Di.'s "Anglo-Greek bonds." Great Britain, Russia, and France had been stalwart Greek creditors since the latter's war of independence against the Ottoman Empire in the 1820s. Private investors could assume part of the risk of these loans by taking out bonds; they would receive dividends in the form of Greek interest payments. By the mid-1840s, there was some debate as to whether these bonds would be guaranteed by the British government. A contingency plan was certainly advisable for private investors, since Greece had already defaulted on two major international loans in 1827 and 1843 (from Great Britain and France respectively.)

 

With original spelling. A complete transcript of this letter can be found in Benjamin Disraeli Letters: 1848-1851, John Alexander Wilson Gunn, ed., Letter 2034, p. 350-351.

 

"My dear Sir,

 

We go out of town tomorrow: our direction

 

Sir Ed: Lytton Bart:

Knebworth

Stevenage

 

but we shall be passing thro' town again for Bucks about the 1st of Septr, if you think it better not to send the papers down to us.

 

If the fund in the Consols is interfered with, you must be careful to prepare a new power of attey for Messr Drummond to receive our dividends, as I apprehend the sale wd invalidate the existing one. This is the reason why I shd prefer dealing with the less important stock. I will trouble you to take these matters in hand. You have misapprehended the other part of my letter. There is, + has been for more than a year, a fund in Messr Glyn's hands arising from the sale of Anglo-Greek bonds, wh. I propose shd be applied to the satisfaction of this controverted items of dividends received by Mrs. Di., + for that purpose + I enclose you an order. If the amount is not equal to the claim, I will take measures in due time, that you shall be repaid the balance.

 

The arrears, wh. Mrs. Di. complains she has not received, are, I believe, betw 6 + 700£ owing from the Welch estates + of wh: she was apprised by letter from the Welch agent…"

 

Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873), the man Disraeli would be visiting, shared Disraeli's temperament, his interest in writing, and his political orientation. Interestingly, Bulwer-Lytton was offered the throne of Greece in 1862 after King Otto's abdication, but he declined it.

 

Disraeli had been a Tory/Conservative member of British Parliament since 1837. In the next several years after writing this letter, he would be promoted to Chancellor of the Exchequer. He served two terms as British Prime Minister, the first in 1868 and the second between 1874-1880. Benjamin Disraeli lived at 1, Grosvenor Gate at the intersection of Park Lane and Upper Grosvenor Street, London between ca. 1839-1872.

 

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