Monday, November 19, 2012

Question from Lisa - Patrick Williams book on Catherine of Aragon

I am wondering about Patrick Williams' book on Catherine of Aragon, I have not been able to get a copy of it, I am wondering if anyone else has been able to get a copy of it, or if they know how I could get one?

12 comments:

Foose said...

GRRRR! I pre-ordered this last year and waited patiently through several cycles of Amazon.co.uk telling me it had been delayed. Then about a month ago I received an Amazon e-mail saying that my order, a book on Richard III by Patrick Williams, had been delayed.

WTF? So I contacted Amazon, and they were equally puzzled, and researched my question for several weeks, at the end of which they regretfully concluded that the original listing, Catherine of Aragon by Patrick Williams, was actually an error, and that all along the book had really been about Richard III.

So I cancelled it. I still periodically run a search on the Catherine of Aragon title, because it seems so odd that it was listed as such, with a cover image and everything, and then it turned out to be about Richard III. You would think the author, if no one else, would have noticed early on that his book was listed on Amazon with the incorrect title and requested it be fixed. I still hope that somewhere lurking on Patrick Williams' desk is the manuscript for a Catherine of Aragon book.

Leonie Frieda, several years back, had a book on Francis I of France listed on Amazon. I duly pre-ordered that, and somewhere along the way it morphed into a book on some Renaissance princesses. I am just as interested in Renaissance princesses as I am in Francis I, so I let the order stand. Richard III, not so much (apologies to the Ricardians out there). But it shows that books can change over time on Amazon.

Lara said...

This is one of a few books that has proved very frustrating to keep track of for my monthly 'upcoming books round-up' posts. Amazon.com still has it listed and, like Foose said, it has a cover design.

I just realized it was being published by Amberley and I have a contact there, so I'll see if I can find out more.

Lisa said...

That's a pretty big mistake to make, I hope as well that Patrick Williams intends to publish a book on Catherine of Aragon, I was really looking forward to it, hopefully Amberley is planning to release two books from Williams, Richard III and Catherine of Aragon, thanks for the info

tudor princess said...

I was also excited about this book which blurb promised new insights into Catherine through research from the Spanish archives.

Imagine my surprise when Catherine had morphed into Richard. Perhaps I am being uncharitable here but with all the fuss over the potential discovery of Richard's remains, I can imagine a publisher saying: "Hey, we need a book about this dude, Richard NOW!"

Lara said...

I have info! It's on the publishing list for April 2013 and according to my contact (and the book's editor) it's almost a guarantee it will actually come out then. So - *fingers crossed*!

Foose said...

Thanks for investigating! I will keep an eye out for the book and re-order.

Lara said...

No problem! I'm getting curious about it myself, especially since the Amazon page puts it at over 500 pages!

Foose said...

Hmm, it may be another case of "idiot's font" being used to vastly pump up a book's real estate by using widely spaced lines and big point size ... Or another annoying trick, more usually seen in scholarly monographs, where the endnotes, appendices and index take up more than half the book. Still, as long as Catherine of Aragon comes out I'll be satisfied.

Yes, I think tudorprincess has a point about the recent discovery in Leicester prompting a likely flood of Richard III material. I knew no good could come of it. Probably the Ricardians similarly groaned aloud when "The Tudors" TV show and Henry VIII's 500th accession anniversary triggered a publishing avalanche of Tudoriana.

Foose said...

And ... now the American Amazon has sent me an e-mail saying that Patrick Williams' Catherine of Aragon is available for order, will arrive in "1 to 3 months" ... I wonder if they read this thread?

Lara said...

Heehee! Or my inquiry sparked something. (I'm guessing what really happened was that that the publisher's list came out, but who knows?)

Lara said...

An update!

It looks like this book is indeed finally out! I saw a post on the Amberley Facebook page that they are having a give-away for it and it is now listed as "in stock" at Amazon.uk. Although there seems to be some confusion on the spelling of the subject's name - it's "Katharine" on the jacket on the Facebook post and the text of the Amazon.uk listing, but still as "Catherine" on that page's book cover. Make up your mind people! :)

Foose said...

At last I haz it! In my Foose paws! It's the U.K. edition (American Amazon flaked out yet again on this) but it's definitely available and a real book.