Arthur de Rothschild (1851-1903)
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Arthur de Rothschild, the youngest son of Nat, was born in Paris on 28 March 1851 but was English by nationality. When the Franco-Prussian war broke out in 1870, he went with his elderly tutor to Brussels to continue his education, and on his return to Paris aged 21, he claimed French citizenship. For much of his life he lived with his mother on the second floor of 33, rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré. Arthur passed an exam giving him the rank of a second lieutenant in the Reserve Artillery and eventually reached the rank of lieutenant in the territorial army. In 1871, he was awarded the Cross of a Knight of the Légion d'Honneur in recognition of his help to French prisoners interned in Belgium. He did not play a significant role in the business of the Bank. A keen yachtsman, from 1895 he took up motor-racing. He wrote a history of the postal system in France, had a 'mania' for stationery, and formed collections of ties, cigars and hair-ribbons.
Arthur de Rothschild, publications, 'Notice sur l'origine du Prix Uniforme de la Taxe des Lettres en Angletterre', 1872
000/2273, 1 volume
Notice sur l'origine du Prix Uniforme de la Taxe des Lettres en Angletterre, Arthur de Rothschild (Librairie Nouvelle, Paris, 1872). Historical notes on the introduction of a standardised postal tariff in England and the origin of the postage stamp. Small red leather volume, bearing the initials 'C de R' on the front cover, possibly owned by his mother, Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899).
Arthur de Rothschild, publications, 'La Poste A Un Penny', 1872
000/2366, 1 volume
La Poste A Un Penny, Arthur de Rothschild (Bureau du Timbre-Poste, Brussels, 1872). Introduction to and translation of a document in the possession of Arthur de Rothschild, in which an Excise Office submits proposals for postal reform to Her Majesty's Treasury. The proposals were never implemented and Arthur de Rothschild published this document for the interest of French philatelists. The volume bears three unique stamps.
Arthur de Rothschild, publications,'Histoire de la Poste aux Lettres: depuis ses origines plus anciennes jusqu’a nos jours', 1873
000/334, 1 volume
Histoire de la Poste aux Lettres: depuis ses origines plus anciennes jusqu’a nos jours, Arthur de Rothschild, (Librairie Nouvelle, Paris 1873). A historical survey of postal communications in the ancient world, leading to a more detailed history of postal services in Europe, with one chapter devoted to an analysis of the postal reform in England and France in the 1840s. [Note: a further copy will be found in Named Collections: The Ascott Collection. Two earlier, privately printed volumes, bound in red leather and printed in 1872, gifted by Arthur to his maternal grandparents, James de Rothschild, and Betty, Baroness James de Rothschild, will be found in the Lafite Papers I (OC 305). A copy of Il Collezionista Francobolli, October 2003, an Italian philately magazine which contains an article on Arthur de Rothschild, will be found in 000/1291].