Description

Mainstream Publishing [Published Date: 1991]. Hardcover, 312 pp. First Edition, Signed by author ("Angus Hamilton") on title page. Very good in very good dust jacket. Maroon cloth covered boards with gold lettering on spine. Light bumping and scuffing to edges of covers. Binding tight. Pages clean and unmarked. Dust jacket has a few small nicks and light creasing to edges. Light overall scuffing to jacket as well. NOT price clipped. Now in an archival quality (removable) Brodart cover. Black and white and color illustrations. [From front jacket flap] Of the literally scores of books published through the years on the tantalising subject of Mary Queen of Scots, few will achieve the intimacy of Maria R. The author, Scotland's premier peer, grew up surrounded by her artefacts and can himself claim descent from Mary. Two of the most important events in the life of Queen Mary took place on the same day of the year - 29 July. On that day in 1565 Mary married Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley, and that day in 1567 saw her abdication and the subsequent coronation of her son. The dramatic and traumatic two years between these dates provide the framework for this popular narrative history. Based on the best modern scholarly opinions, it is a compelling read - not so much a biography as a swift-moving romantic tragedy where, in just twenty-four months amongst the four main residents at Holyrood Palace, Edinburgh, there were two marriages and as many murders. At the end of the period the two survivors, the heroine and anti-hero, were forced to leave the palace forever. Those fateful two years are distinguished by a multiplicity of characters. Accordingly, the book contains a large number of short, sharply etched prose sketches of Mary's many suitors - foreign rulers with an impact on Scotland - and the Scottish nobility of the time. Until now there has been no description of all these people in one simple volume. These sketches, containing biographical material, connections with Mary and her court and outlines of personal characteristics, are an integral part of the book - indeed, they constitute one of its principal claims to originality. By examining the inter-relationships in this way, Maria R is able to provide a thoroughly unique insight into the royal families and ruling elites of sixteenth-century Europe. The book is highly illustrated throughout, using some hitherto unpublished paintings of the period. The scholarly validity of this popular work is emphasised by the co-operation of Professor (Emeritus) Gordon Donaldson, CBA who acted as consultant editor for the work and provided a Foreword.