Bidspirit auction | A 19th C Embossed Leather

A 19th C Embossed Leather Dispatch Box - Sir Walter Scott - A 19th-century rectangular dispatch box featuring a decorative embossed exterior and a wooden interior - potentially responsible for how the world views Scotland. The dispatch box was a gift by Sir Walter Scott to his daughter in law, Jane Jobson Scott (JJS), on her marriage to his eldest son Walter Scott. JJS came with a £50,000 dowry that Sir Walter Scott used to change the ownership of his beautiful home Abbotsford into a trust, enabling him to live there rent free. When he went bankrupt some months later, his home was safe and he was able to write his way out of bankruptcy as he still had a roof over his head.  As a result he was able to save his reputation and remain well regarded - meaning his literature and cultural influence remained intact. Without the dowry his character and legacy would have remained in ruins. As he saved his legacy, Queen Victoria visited Abbotsford and completely inspired the architectural style and redesign of Balmoral Castle as a result of her visit.  The box would have contained letters between SW & JJS and is a memento to how transformational her dowry was to one of Scotland's cultural icons.  The box is constructed with a wooden core and a partitioned interior divided into three separate compartments. The exterior is clad in black material, likely leather or heavy-duty treated paper, embossed with an ornate foliate and scrollwork pattern.  A central oval crest on the lid depicts a stag trippant within a border reading SEMPER FIDELIS in embossed characters. The front panel features the embossed initials J . J . S . positioned above a brass lock plate, which retains its original metal ring-handled key. No manufacturer or maker names are visible on the box or the accompanying volumes. Width: Approximately 14 inches.