ROBERT BADEN-POWELL - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 06/26/1908 - HFSID 42258

ROBERT BADEN-POWELL


The Lieutenant-Military pens a letter to a friend referring to a trip to an upcoming trip to Richmond, signed in black ink


Autograph Letter Signed: "RSS Baden Powell", 2p, 5x8. Place: Camp Ripon Date: June 26, 1908.On imprinted letterhead of The Castle, Richmond, Yorks, which Baden-Powell has lined out. In full: " Dear Mrs. Boyd Carpenter . As you said I might - may I suggest myself for lunch today, before I leave for Richmond? If it is inconvenient please don't trouble about it as I can of course lunch here if necessary. I did enjoy myself last night - in spite of the cloud that hung over me for being so late for dinner. & I learnt a lesson, viz, that however worldly and untheological a Bishop's perch may be at least forgiveness abounds there - as well as hospitality - & I am very very grateful". Handwritten postscript: "Enclosed scrap of paper is for the time at which I may present myself for lunch - (ifImay)." Signed the year after Baden-Powell founded the Boy Scout movement and the year before he was knighted. In 1908, British war hero Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell (1857-1941) published Scouting for Boys, based on his army manual, Aids to Scouting (1899). His Boy Scout movement spread rapidly around the British Isles, and by 1920, the year he received his peerage, Baden-Powell was recognized as "Chief Scout of the World". Second Lieutenant Baden-Powell, who first saw service with the 13th Hussars in India, had been detached for scouting service in Africa in the Ashanti (1895) and Matabele (1896) campaigns. In 1897, he transferred to the 5th Dragoon Guards, which he commanded. While he was on leave in England in 1899, Baden-Powell was appointed to raise a force of mounted rifles to be based in Mafeking with the secret aim of making raids on the Boers in Transvaal. Mafeking was besieged by a superior force of Boers for 217 days (October 12, 1899-May 17, 1900), and the relief of Mafeking was celebrated throughout the Empire, as it was the first victory the British had achieved in the Boer War. Baden-Powell then organized the South African Constabulary, of which he was the commander from 1900-1903. His later military service included serving as Colonel of the 13th Hussars (1911) his other contributions to children include assisting his sister, Agnes, found the Girl Guides. Lightly creased with folds, light horizontal fold underlines signature. Heavily penned, light show through of ink. Shaded at upper margin, which is chipped, touching 2 words. Nicked at lower blank edge, minor indentations at upper portion. Otherwise, fine condition.