PHOTO: a collection of 332 black and white photographs from one of the private photo albums belonging to Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna are for sale from my collection. CLICK on the image to enlarge – PG

As many of you know, I will be moving back to England in the summer of 2025. As a result, I am forced to sell not only my furniture and other possessions, I have also made the very difficult decision to part with some of my Romanov treasures.

Back in 1998-99 I went to visit a man living in Rosedale, an historic and very affluent residential area in Toronto, Ontario. I had been invited by historian and author Patricia Phenix, who was researching for her book Olga Romanov: Russia’s Last Grand Duchess [Published in 1999 by Viking-Penguin]. The gentleman had a collection of photographs copied from one of the personal photograph albums belonging to Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna [1882-1960]. He was kind enough to show us the photographs, and even agreed to allow us to make copies.

Aside from the original album, ONLY three sets of these photographs exist. We had two sets made – a great expense at time – one for Pat, the other for myself. We returned the original set to the gentleman in Rosedale, who several years later “loaned” them to Olga Kulikovsky-Romanov, who used them for the exhibitions of Grand Duchess Olga’s paintings, which she was organizing in Russia. She never returned the photographs to the gentleman in Rosedale.

The photos depict Grand Duchess Olga and her family in Russia, Denmark and Canada, where she died on 24th November 1960. The photos from her Russian years include her mother Empress Maria Feodorovna, her brothers Tsar Nicholas II and Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, as well as her sister Grand Duchess Xenia Alexandrovna.

This lot consists of a total of 332 black and white photographs. The quality and clarity of each photo varies from one image to the next. The photographs are copies of those from Olga’s photo album. The fate of the photo album is unknown, but is believed to have been sold at auction.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS IS AN AUCTION SALE: I am offering this collection of 332 photos to the highest bidder. I have set the bidding price at $150 USD. I invite those of you who are interested to send me a private e-mail [royalrussia@yahoo.com], stating your highest bid. The winner will be notified by e-mail on Tuesday, 5th September 2023. Payment can be made by credit card or PayPal. All sales are final.

© Paul Gilbert. 16 August 2023