I am wondering if anyone else has a copy yet of the British Library Henry exhibition catalogue. Mine arrived this morning and is a beautiful full-colour book 9 inches by 11 inches and 1inch thick, weighing nearly three pounds – and this is only the paperback! In comparison with British Museum, Royal Academy and National Gallery catalogue prices of recent years this is amazing value at £12.99 on Amazon.
We shall have to give David Starkey and the rest credit for getting together such a wonderful array of artefacts, especially in the light of all the other Henry exhibitions which will be running at the same time.
I know from previous posts that Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon fans will like to know that there is a letter from Mary to Henry in November 1514 and her large, messy scrawl looks just like his; also one from Charles Brandon to Henry the following April. Their marriage portrait is the one belonging to the Duke of Bedford (Woburn Abbey), not the one in the collection of the Earl of Yarborough.
Apart from David Starkey there are 30 contributors to the text including John Guy, Steven Gunn and Eric Ives, who wrote the piece on Anne Boleyn.
Mine shipped yesterday! I can't wait to get it, especially since I won't make it to the actual exhibition.
ReplyDeleteI'm waiting to get mine at the exhibit. I am very much looking forward to seeing Mary's letter and Charles' letter, though I've seen reproductions of both their letters. Good to know I have something particularly meaningful to me to look forward to seeing!
ReplyDeleteI was fortune enough to visit the exhibit on the first day and it is fantastic! There were several items I was amazed to see, including Princess Mary’s submission to her father (letters dated June 1536), Henry VIII’s writing desk, Cromwell’s letter to Henry VIII written whilst he was in the Tower, beautiful drawings of tent design for the Field of Cloth of Gold, Kingston’s letter to Cromwell concerning Anne Boleyn’s last days, birth announcement of Princess Elizabeth, etc. It is worth spending a few hours in there and make sure to get there early as it gets very busy. I arrived at the earliest time and there were only a few people present so it allowed me the chance to look at the items up close and slowly. By the end the crowd was building.
ReplyDeleteMy copy arrived yesterday morning, for once, Amazon didn't let me down! I too had a paperback, and I couldn't believe the weight. It's beautifully done, though. I was so excited to get it, but I am disappointed that have to wait til June to go to the exhibition.
ReplyDeleteOkay, okay, I'm convinced. I need to get this before I go to England. Sounds like getting it now will make my luggage a lot lighter on the way home. Can anybody give me an amazon link to it? I didn't know what to search for and can't seem to find it.
ReplyDeleteLook for the title "Henry VIII Man and Monarch".
ReplyDeleteI've also got Amazon affiliate links here (but of course no one should feel obliged to buy through those links!): http://tudorhistory.org/blog/2009/04/10/book-to-accompany-british-library-exhibition/
Thanks, Lara, I found it. Once I thought about it, I realized that you probably had a link to it in the blog and I ordered it from there.
ReplyDeleteI found a good price for the book. At www.amazon.ca (the Canadian version of Amazon.com. It sells for $22.50 (about $18.60 in U.S. dollars).
ReplyDeleteamazon.com (the American version) has it for $29.
Link at amazon.ca:
http://www.amazon.ca/Henry-VIII-Monarch-David-Starkey/dp/0712350268/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1240853386&sr=8-1
I just received mine today; it's awesome! Definitely worth it. I ordered from Amazon UK and received it (in the US) in 4 days.
ReplyDelete