LUDWIG II: (1845-1886) King of Bavaria 1864-86.

L.S., Ludovico, one page, 4to, Monaco, 21st January 1865, to Cardinal [Lodovico] Altieri, in Italian. King Ludwig II thanks his correspondent for 'the good wishes which Your Excellency sent me on the recurrence of the Holy Feast of the Nativity', and sends his in return for the Cardinal's 'complete prosperity'. With blank integral leaf. An elegantly penned and boldly signed letter written in the first New Year of King Ludwig II's reign. Two very small, minor spots of foxing, not affecting the text or signature, VGLodovico Altieri (1805-1867) Italian Cardinal, served as the Camerlengo of the Roman Catholic Church 1857-67, previously Nuncio to Austria for Pope Gregory XVI. During the cholera epidemic that affected his diocese, assisting the sick and dying, he himself contracted the malady, dying in 1867.King Ludwig II of Bavaria is sometimes referred to as the Swan King (English) or the Fairy Tale King (German). A reclusive king, Ludwig increasingly withdrew from day-to-day affairs of state in favour of extravagant artistic and architectural projects. He commissioned the construction of two lavish palaces and the Neuschwanstein Castle, and was a devoted patron of the composer Richard Wagner. His extravagance was used against him to declare him insane, an accusation which has since come under scrutiny. Even before he died, Ludwig had already become something of an enigma 'I want to remain an eternal mystery to myself and others', he once told his governess, and it is this mysterious element that still fascinates people today.