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Auction: 323 - The Numismatic Collector's Series Sale
Lot: 1402

Leonowens, Anna (1834-1914) Governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam and author of several chronicles of Siamese court life. AQS, ("A. H Leonowens"), 1p, 4to, N.P., N.D., A full-page entry written (in Siamese (?) and English) on a single leaf of a "birthday book" dated November 5th, Leonowen's birthday. She writes:



"A friend placed in my hand one day,
A perfumed bit of potter's clay,
Art thou Ambergris, or musk? Cried I;
Thy fragrance fills both earth & sky.
From the silent clay, came forth sound:
"Companion of the rose once I was found,
E'er since as sweetest fragrance I abound,
But for that rose, I had remained for aye.
That nature made me, potted clay."



Leonowens authored "The English Governess the Siamese Court" (1870) and "The Romance of the Harem" (1872). The former was adapted into a best-selling novel by Margaret Landon, inspiring the 1946 movie, "Anna and the King of Siam" and the 1951 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical "The King and I". Long controversial in Thailand, Leonowens may have invented some of the content of her reports and many aspects of her own identity. The quote above is possibly taken from the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam", and is delicately penned on an autograph album page with a printed decorative border in red and green. In mint condition and rare.

From the collection of Diana Herzog.

Sold for
$400