[With handwritten dedication Queen Adelaide] Three sermons addressed to young children

by a Lady. Printed for the bazaar patronised by her Majesty the Queen Dowager in aid of the Adelaide Institution at Southampton. London, W. Wright, 1838, (2),III,(1),27,(1) p., bound in rich gilt black morocco, gilt edges, 12mo (minimal signs of use).

An extremely rare single edition, no other copies found. The book is dedicated by the anonymous author to Queen Adelaide (1792-1849, wife to Willem IV and namesake of the Australian city). The extraordinary quality of our copy is that it is the actual copy belonging to Queen Adelaide, with her gilt royal monogram "A.R." underneath a crown on the front cover. Particularly noteworthy is the handwritten dedication added by the Queen to the free endpaper: "For Anna and Aurelia from their (...) Aunt, [monogram:] A.D. 1839". Comparing the handwriting, monogram and date in our book with those on a card in the Queen Adelaide collection (see: https://www.flickr.com/photos/migrationmuseum/7158547859/in/set-72157625351164638) provides an unmistakable match. Furthermore, our copy has a small pasted ex libris "G.H." This could be the ex libris of Georges Hugnet (1906-1974), an important French artist and collector of manuscripts and autographs.