Alexandrina Victoria served as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 1837 until her death in 1901. Referred to as the Victorian era, her reign of 63 years and seven months far exceeded that of any of her predecessors and was marked by a great expansion of the British Empire and major scientific, industrial, and cultural developments.

 

 

Queen Victoria began writing daily diary entries in her renowned “Journal” in 1832 at the request of her mother who inspected each entry until the day Victoria became queen. She continued to write daily entries until ten days before her death. When she died, her daughter and literary executor, Princess Beatrice, expurgated the original leaves and, as instructed by the Queen, destroyed most of the original documents. The edited journals would comprise roughly 120 volumes which are now housed in the Royal Archives.

 

 

Some extracts from Queen Victoria’s journals were published during her lifetime in the volumes Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, published in 1868, and its sequel More Leaves from the Journal of Our Life in the Highlands, published in 1884, after the former’s great success which sold twenty thousand copies.

 

 

Victoria soon also formed a habit of methodologically preserving her private letters and, after her accession to the throne, treated her official papers similarly and bound them into volumes. This extraordinary collection reveals the laborious patience with which she kept herself informed of the minutest details of political and social movements both in her own and other countries.

 

 

In addition to her own writing, Victoria was an avid reader and generously gifted and inscribed her favorite books to friends, family, and staff, whom she was know to take great affection to. An extensive traveler, she enjoyed collecting and gifting regional historical accounts and illustrated view books of her favorite destinations, including Switzerland and the French Riviera.

 

 

In addition to Queen Victoria’s writings and several books inscribed by her, our collection currently includes several military appointments, patents, legal counsels, and photographs signed by her throughout her lengthy reign as Queen of England. View the complete collection here.