Description
Education of a Princess, signed by Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess of Russia.
Octavo, xii, 388pp. Black cloth, title stamped in gilt on spine. Stated “third printing” on copyright page. Top edge dyed pink. Light foxing on outer edge of text block, illustrated endpapers with maps of Russia. In the publisher’s near fine dust jacket, retail price on front flap, light rubbing to edges, bright colors and illustrations. Signed on the half-title: “Grand Duchess Marie.”
Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia (1890-1958) was a granddaughter of Alexander II of Russia. She served as a nurse during WWI, until the fall of the Russian monarchy in 1917. In 1918, the Bolsheviks began asserting power, murdering members of her family. She escaped and eventually arrived in Bucharest, Romania. In the 1920s, she moved to the United States, meeting with publishers and eventually writing two autobiographies, titled Education of a Princess and A Princess in Exile. She eventually returned to Europe in 1949 and died in 1958. She was a first cousin of both Nicholas II, last Emperor of Russia, and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.
