"Legitimacy"
Carlo VII of Spain
1848-1909

Accession number:
1996.02

Maker:
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward
(1851-1922). Published by Vanity Fair

Historical period:
April 29, 1876

Type:

Dimensions:
H x W: 13.5 in. / 8.5 in.

Acquisition date:
N/A

Credit line:
The Army and Navy Club Library Trust Fund

Location:
,

Provenance:
N/A

Label:

Vanity Fair has been the title of at least five different magazines. The second was a British weekly published from 1868 to 1914, where this print originated. Subtitled "A Weekly Show of Political, Social and Literary Wares," it was founded by Thomas Gibson Bowles, who aimed to expose the contemporary vanities of Victorian society. It offered its readership articles on fashion, current events, the theatre, books, social events and the latest scandals, together with serial fiction, word games and other trivia, and included notable contributors such as Lewis Carroll and P. G. Wodehouse. It regularly published caricatures of notable English men and women of the day, including statesmen, military figures, princes and sovereigns, and even racehorses.

Don Carlos, Duke of Madrid, pictured here, was the Carlist claimant to the throne of Spain under the name Carlos VII from 1868. He was also the Legitimist claimant to the throne of France under the name Charles XI after his father’s death in 1887. He was the senior member of the House of Bourbon from 1887 until his death.