Henrietta Maria.
Hamilton, Elizabeth.
Place Published: New York:
Publisher: Coward McCann & Geoghegan,
Date Published: 1976.
Description: STATED FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, FIRST PRINTING. 290 pages plus 16 pages black & white illustrations.. The book is NEAR FINE with very lightly bumped top front corner. The dust jacket is NEAR FINE with minor edgewear and small closed tear to upper back edge. NOT price-clipped. NOT remaindered. JMVintage specializes in books, magazines, and treasures related to the Duke & Duchess of Windsor....and other curious subjects. Dust jacket notes read: "IN THIS RICHLY detailed biography, Elizabeth Hamilton gives us a stunning portrait of Henrietta Maria, the powerful, sensual, and demanding Catholic queen who kept Charles I in thrall and cast the English crown in jeopardy. Born the youngest child of incompatible parents, Henri IV and the Florentine Marie de Medici, Henriette-Marie was still an infant when her father was assassinated and the French monarchy seized by her mother in the name of her brother, Louis XIII. From her mother the child acquired the attitude of royalty, a taste for luxury, a commitment to Catholicism, and a knowledge of the politics of expediency. By the age of sixteen Henrietta Maria was married to Charles I of England, an event which caused immediate alarm in Protestant circles. From the moment she set foot in her new kingdom, she was the center of religious intrigue and political double-dealing. The English mistrusted her French favorites and priests, feared her influence over her husband and scorned her love of display, particularly of the masques devised in most splendid detail by Inigo Jones and Ben Jonson. Zealously, the Puritans sought a return to reason and order. As the tragic events of Charles 1's reign occurred-the assassination of Buckingham, the execution of Strafford, the imprisonment of Archbishop Laud, the crescendo of opposition to the king's supremacy-Henrietta threw herself into the task of assisting her husband. On the outbreak of the Civil War, she set about raising money, assembling arms and soldiers, and desperately preaching Charles' cause to unwilling ears, first in Holland and later in France. Though scapegoated and maligned by her adopted people, Henrietta Maria remained loyal to her husband throughout his ordeal and tragic demise. She was devastated by the news of his execution and always hoped that her eldest son, Charles II, would be restored to his throne. Severely disappointed and exiled in poverty, the queen never lost her zeal for life, her love of gaiety. She did indeed live to see the Restoration. Elizabeth Hamilton chronicles Henrietta Maria's growth from spoiled princess to gallant and determined partner in King Charles' unsuccessful campaign to foster a harmonious union between the Puritans and the English Catholics. A flamboyant and colorful figure, the Catholic queen is brilliantly evoked in this splendid and engrossing biography set against the background of a turbulent period in English history."
Edition: First American editionBinding: Cloth
Condition: Near Fine in Near Fine DJ
ISBN: 0-698-10713-6
Book Id: 17117
Price: $14.50
