Where's Master?

Cream board binding with picture of Caesar and the title on the front board. Title on the spine.

Where's Master? By Caesar. The Kings Dog

This dog was given precedence over the Kaiser at Edward VII's funeral

The book is a British Royal family product. The handwritten inscription on the fly leaf is believed to be that of Princess Mary, daughter of King George V.

Caesar (1898–1914) was a Wire Fox Terrier owned by King Edward VII. He was bred in the kennels of Kathleen, Duchess of Newcastle, and became the constant companion of the King. After the King's death in 1910, the dog attended the funeral and walked in the procession in prominence ahead of nine kings and other heads of state. Caesar has been the subject of paintings, and a hand crafted hardstone model created by the House of Fabergé.

Within a month of the funeral an unofficial book was published, Where's Master?, giving a first person account of Caesar from the king's death up to the funeral, something which made Queen Mary furious. The book was successful, running to nine reprints in the first year. After the King's death, a portrait of the dog was painted once more, this time by Maud Earl. The painting entitled Silent Sorrow, features Caesar resting his head on the King's favourite chair. The Steiff company produced stuffed toys based on Caesar around 1910.

After the death of the King on 6 May 1910, Caesar refused to eat, and would spend time whining outside the King's bedroom. At one point, he managed to sneak into the King's bedroom and was found hiding under his bed by Queen Alexandra. The Queen encouraged him to eat once more and restored him to his normal self. Caesar attended the funeral of Edward VII, and led the funeral procession with a highlander walking behind the carriage that carried the King's coffin. He was placed ahead of the heads of state in the procession, including King George V and eight other Kings, an act of which Kaiser Wilhelm II of the German Empire disapproved.

He remained in the Royal household after the death of the king, although Alice Keppel, long-time mistress to the King, had enquired of Queen Alexandra about what was to happen to Caesar. Despite her previous dislike of the dog, the Queen took interest in the terrier's care and tended to spoil him with treats, confessing to a friend that she was making up for the King being so strict towards him. Caesar died following an operation in April 1914. The Fabergé figurine now forms part of the Royal Collection, while Caesar was included in the sculpture of the King and Queen atop their tomb in St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle. In the sculpture, Caesar lies at the feet of the king.

The Wire Fox Terrier (also known as Wire Hair Fox Terrier or Wirehaired Terrier) is a breed of dog, one of many terrier breeds. It is a fox terrier, and although it bears a resemblance to the Smooth Fox Terrier, they are believed to have been developed separately.

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910.

The eldest son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and nicknamed "Bertie", Edward was related to royalty throughout Europe. He was Prince of Wales and heir apparent to the British throne for almost 60 years. During the long reign of his mother, he was largely excluded from political influence and came to personify the fashionable, leisured elite. He travelled throughout Britain performing ceremonial public duties and represented Britain on visits abroad. His tours of North America in 1860 and of the Indian subcontinent in 1875 proved popular successes, but despite public approval, his reputation as a playboy prince soured his relationship with his mother.

As king, Edward played a role in the modernisation of the British Home Fleet and the reorganisation of the British Army after the Second Boer War of 1899–1902. He re-instituted traditional ceremonies as public displays and broadened the range of people with whom royalty socialised. He fostered good relations between Britain and other European countries, especially France, for which he was popularly called "Peacemaker", but his relationship with his nephew, the German Emperor Wilhelm II, was poor. The Edwardian era, which covered Edward's reign and was named after him, coincided with the start of a new century and heralded significant changes in technology and society, including steam turbine propulsion and the rise of socialism. He died in 1910 in the midst of a constitutional crisis that was resolved the following year by the Parliament Act 1911, which restricted the power of the unelected House of Lords.

Princess Mary was born on 25 April 1897 at York Cottage on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of her great-grandmother Queen Victoria. She was the third child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of York. Her father was the eldest surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales, while her mother was the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck. She was named Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, after her paternal great-grandmother Queen Victoria; her paternal grandmother, Alexandra, Princess of Wales; her maternal grandmother, Mary Adelaide, Duchess of Teck; and her great-aunt, Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine, with whom she shared a birthday. She was known by the last of her Christian names, Mary. She was fifth in the line of succession at the time of her birth, superseded by her younger brothers, Prince Henry, Prince George, and Prince John.

She was baptised at St Mary Magdalene's Church near Sandringham on 7 June 1897 by William Dalrymple Maclagan, Archbishop of York. Her godparents were: the Queen (her great-grandmother); the King of the Hellenes (her paternal great-uncle); the Dowager Empress of Russia (her paternal great-aunt); the Prince and Princess of Wales (her paternal grandparents); the Duchess of Teck (her maternal grandmother); Princess Victoria of Wales (her paternal aunt); and Prince Francis of Teck (her maternal uncle). Her grandparents, King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra, ascended to the throne in 1901, when Mary was three years old.

Princess Mary was educated by governesses, but shared some lessons with her brothers, Prince Edward, Prince Albert, and Prince Henry. She became fluent in German and French, and developed a lifelong interest in horses and horse racing. Her first state appearance was at the coronation of her parents, King George V and Queen Mary at Westminster Abbey on 22 June 1911.