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The Selman-Troytt Commemoration
Count Alberto Castellini
Count Alberto Castellini

Count Castellini was a hard master even by the standards of his time. At his olive-growing estates in Italy he made his tenants press the olives individually between their fingers, painstakingly extracting the oil in a process that could take up to one month to produce a litre of olive oil. "It may be slow," the Count is quoted as saying, "but I feel I can taste their sweat in it."

His reputation for haughtiness was legendary and he would snub anybody, even close friends, unless they were formally re-introduced at each meeting. Despite this hauteur his relationship with Jeremy appears to have proceeded to a level of intimacy such that he was able to write to his mother: ' ... I have met here in London a man who has asked that he may measure my neck. I may let him, even though I suspect he is a homosexual.'

He was recklessly and flamboyantly extravagant, once purchasing a thousand collars from Fortnum & Mason. On other occasions he would order more soufflé than he could comfortably eat. "I like to think that I have taken food from the mouths of poor people," he would say, "even though they cannot afford soufflé."

Like the Lenoirs, he always chose London for his convalescences.

Special Note for Web Historians
The Selman-Troytt Postcard Emporium is the oldest purveyor of E-cards on the Internet. A copy of our first Royal Warrant may be examined here. Since the granting of this illustrious award we have been patronised by aristocrats, many of whom insist upon using Selman-Troytt cards to express the depth and sincerity of their affections. Indeed many of our cards - particularly those concerned with incest and paedophilia - have been inspired by a close examination of the aristocracy.



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