British Prime Minister (1868 & 1874/80), Disraeli had a long and cordial relationship with Queen Victoria. He made his early reputation as a novelist before becoming a politician and leader in the commons of the Conservatists. He became Prime Minister on Derby's resignation in 1868, but was defeated soon afterwards in the general election. He was reelected in 1874 and was defeated in the following general election in 1880 by Gladstone and the liberals.
Free-frank envelope, beautifully framed with a portrait of Disraeli, dated October 1837, entirely in Disraeli's hand and signed in the lower left corner. Free frank envelopes (commonly known by collectors as a 'free fronts'), were used by four different classes in the United Kingdom in the first three decades of the nineteenth century; Members of Parliament; peers sitting in the House of Lords; office holders, largely as stipulated by Acts of Parliament; and to archbishops and bishops sitting in the House of Lords. It provided free postage as long as the sender signed the cover or envelope. Free Fronts were widely collected in Victorian times and this item came from the Ray Rawlins collection. Rawlins is well known as the author of 'The Guiness Book of World Autographs'
