Lives of the Queens of England, from the Norman conquest: with anecdotes of their courts, now first published from official records and other authentic documents, private as well as public, new edition, with corrections and additions by Strickland, Agnes

London: Henry Colburn. Hardcover. Very Good. 12mo 7" - 7. Handsome set of the dozen volumes that comprise an important, influential early addition to English women's history, to English politics and the monarchy, to Great Britain's Court and courtiers, and to its Kings and rulers, Queens and fortunes. The O.D.N.B. entry for her notes that the work evidences the author's turn in the 1830s (and that of her sister, the co-author, Elizabeth) towards biography, history and the original manuscripts that she and her sister were shown in the British Museum Library. This is the New Edition, with Corrections and Additions, published by Henry Colburn of London. This edition's Volume I was published in 1844, Volume II in 1842, another in 1841 and then thereafter (noted below). Bound handsomely in marbled paper over boards, the same marbled paper patterns to all three edges, creamy calf leather over tips and spines, with four raised bands to spines, gilt-tooled lettering over red and black leather in two compartments of each, gilt-tooled designs in others, and quite finely so. Moderate rubbing to, scuffing of tips, edges and joints, but text-blocks are solid, and volumes thus feel tank-like in the hand. Previous owner's signatures (of seemingly L. Cathcart, likely a descendant of James Leander Cathcart insofar as he died in 1843) grace each title page top. Mild to moderate foxing at endpapers front and rear, else remarkably clean and bright of interior. Volume I (published in 1844): frontis engraving of Matilda, Consort of William the Conqueror and then gorgeous title page vignette of Matilda and the Bayeux Tapestry; [ix], x-xxiv [1], 2-358 pp.; Volume II (1841): frontis engraving of Berengara, Consort of Richard, Coeur de Lion, then at title page, vignette of Berengara, Received at Acre by Philippe Augustus, frontis matter, 2-384 pp.; Volume III (1844): frontis engraving of Margaret of Anjou, at title page, vignette of Queen Margaret and the Robber of Hexham (!), [v], vi-viii [1], 2-383 pp.; Volume IV (1844), frontis engraving of Elizabeth of York, at title page, vignette of Ann Boleyn Sends Her Tablets to Wolsey, xvi [1], 2-442 pp.; Volume V (1844): frontis engraving of Katharine Parr, Sixth Queen of Henry VIII, title page vignette of Henry the 8th and his family, frontis matter, 2-441 pp.; Volume VI (1844), frontis engraving of Queen Elizabeth when Princess during the reign of Edward the 6th, title page vignette of Elizabeth and the Flower Child, 2-503 pp., with a page of advertisement following, single penned mark in margins; Volume VII (1844), title page vignette of Anne of Denmark, with Hunting Costume, frontis matter, 2-485 pp.; Volume VIII (1845), frontis engraving of Katharine of Braganza, Consort of of Charles the 2nd, title page vignette of Charles 1st, Henrietta Maria, and their elder sons, frontis matter, 2-478 pp.; Volume IX (1846), with frontis engraving of Mary of Modena, title page vignette of Escape of the Queen and the Escape of the Prince of Wales, xiii [1], 2-429 pp.; Volume X (1847), with engraving of Mary II, Princess of Orange, title page vignette of Mary II and her father, frontis matter, 4-416 pp.; Volume XI (1847): frontis engraving of Mary II, in 1692, title page vignette of Mary II and Lord Preston's daughter, frontis matter, 2-440 pp.; Volume XII (1847), frontis engraving, full-sized, of "Agnes Strickland," complete with facsimile signature, but apparently a misplaced engraving of her, given that the volume's subject is Queen Anne, a vignette, "Queen Anne Satisfying the Union," then with a fine engraving of her opposite beginning of Chapter III, 2-462, including Postscript. The set, the histories, are dedicated by the author to Her most Excellent Majesty, the Sovereign Lady Queen, her Majesty's faithful subject and devoted servant, Agnes Strickland. The O.D.N.B. notes that Agnes Strickland (1796–1874) was the second eldest of six surviving daughters and two sons born by the second wife, Elizabeth Homer (1758-1818), of their father, Thomas Strickland (1758–1818). Her sisters were "Elizabeth Strickland (1794–1875); Sarah (1798-1890); Jane Margaret Strickland (1800–1888), born on 18 April 1800, also in north-west Kent, Catharine Parr Traill (1802–1899); and Susanna Moodie (1803–1885)." The frontis illustration of Volume V almost certainly is of the woman after whom one of the sisters (the eventual Catharine Parr Traill) was named. She (1802–1899) was an English-Canadian author and naturalist, botanist and novel, "amateur" natural historian only because the profession didn't yet admit women. She supported the family with income from her writing of 24 books (Wikipedia and O.D.N.B.). As to this set here, it should be noted, the fact of co-authorship. The O.D.N.B. says, "While Elizabeth wrote twelve of the pre-1485 biographies and Agnes only seven, an agreement between the two sisters obliged Agnes to conduct all correspondence, both scholarly and business, and her name alone appeared on the title-pages of all their publications." Assessing the impact of Agnes's and the two sisters' contributions to literature and biography, the O.D.N.B. concludes, "The Lives of the Queens of England and—to a lesser extent—the Lives of the Queens of Scotland were among the most popular of all Victorian historical publications, and remain important landmarks in the development of the biographical genre." Else and withal, a handsome set that stands proudly on the shelf.Member, I.O.B.A., C.B.A., and adherent to the highest ethical standards. 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