Search Results: Biography - English Royalty and Nobility from Goldring Books

London: Heinemann, 1975. Gold title on blue cloth boards which have a touch of wear to top and lower edges with some minor marks to front. Internally there is a small inscription to front pastedown else very clean, tight and unmarked. A Very Good+ copy. Dustjacket has fading to spine and is not price clipped. 24 illustrations. Genealogical chart of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. These letters were only discovered in the 1970's at Broadlands, the home of Princess Victoria's younger son, the Earl Mountbatten of Burma. These letters bring new light to bear on major world and minor domestic events, from the crisis with the Prussian court in 1888 to the Queen's agonized concern for her haemophilic children and grandchildren, from the assassination of the Tsar of Russia to her stalwart but fruitless efforts to persuade Princess's Victoria's sister to marry the eldest son of the Prince of Wales. Lord Mountbatten's elder daughter, Lady Brabourne, has… Read More

London: Viking, 2000. A Fine unmarked copy with Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. First edition, first printing. vi + 376 pages. 13 colourd illustrations. Lord Hervey was one of the most controversial figures of the Georgian age, the consummate courtier, strikingly handsome, elegant and witty, the favourite of the Queen and right-hand man to Walpole, confidant of Lady Mary Wortley Montagu. Yet for all his hard-won public fame, there was scandalous side. He certainly was a rake (rumour has it that he shared a mistress with the Prince of Wales), but such behaviour was quite normal among the 18th century aristocracy, less unusual, however, was his 10 year affair with another man. From the outset, Hervey was fascinated by Stephen Fox, his delightfully witty letters reveal the depth of their passion for one another, and the lengths to which they were driven in order to escape detection. Finally, theirs became an 'open secret', one of many factors that contributed to his downfall.… Read More

London: Faber and Faber, 2010. An As New copy with an As New dustjacket which is not price clipped. First Edition, First Printing. xv + 458 pages. 21 illustrations. 1 map. 2 family trees. The image of Catherine of Aragon has always suffered in comparison to the vivacious eroticism of Anne Boleyn. But when Henry VIII married Catherine, she was an auburn-haired beauty in her twenties with a passion she had inherited from her parents, Isabella and Ferdinand, the joint rulers of Spain who had driven the Moors from their country. This daughter of conquistadors showed the same steel and sense of command when organising the defeat of the Scots at the Battle of Flodden and Henry was to learn, to his cost, that he had not met a tougher opponent on or off the battlefield when he tried to divorce her. This new biography is the first in more than four decades to be dedicated entirely and uniquely to the tenacious woman whose marriage lasted twice as long as those of Henry's five other wives put together.… Read More

Bolton: Ross Anderson, 1984. A Fine unmarked copy with Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. x + 173 pages. 36 illustrations. Audrey Russell's career spans both the wedding of the Queen, then Princess Elizabeth, to the Duke of Edinburgh in 1947 and that of the Prince of Wales to Princess Diana in 1981. Between those dates, she was inside Westminster Abbey for the Coronation and several Royal Weddings; she attended 23 Royal Maundy Services; she commented at State Funerals, Memorial Services and many other national occasions. Overseas, she was a BBC commentator on the Queen's first World Tour in 1953-54 and subsequently on tours of and State Visits to many Commonwealth countries. Her book describes the highlights of her career and takes the reader behind the scenes, revealing many amusing incidents. The book also includes personal anecdotes of Fruity Metcalfe, the author's uncle and best friend of the Duke of Windsor; the young Benjamin Britten; Gilbert Harding; and Richard Dimbleby.… Read More

London: Greenwich Editions, 2002. A Fine unmarked copy in pictorial laminated boards with Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. 256 pages. A lavishly illustrated large format volume. The Tudor family was suddenly thrust on to the throne when in 1485 Henry VII seized the Crown of England from his distant relative, the much maligned Richard III, on the battlefield at Bosworth, ending more than four decades of civil strife/ Eye witness accounts describe in vivid detail events as they unfold, bringing to life the splendour and pageantry of the period. More than 80 essays, written by a team of leading authorities, provide background information on the people, politics, mores and customs of this formative era in English history. **** A LARGE HEAVY VOLUME OF 1.4 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING COST **** **** NOT EX LIB **** 25. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

London: Country Life, 1978. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is price clipped. A large format volume of 175 pages. Profusely illustrated. Foreword by HRH The Prince of Wales. This authoritative book, written with the co-operation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, tells the story of perhaps the most respected and widely loved member of the Royal Family in the history of the monarchy. In a text of unique candour and clarity Godfrey Talbot paints a vivid picture of a very human person. A LARGE HEAVY VOLUME OF 1.22 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING COST 25. First. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine. Folio - over 12" - 15" tall.

London: Victor Gollancz, 1986. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is price clipped. 219 pages. 15 illustrations. Here is a galaxy of odd and wonderful characters: sycophants and time-servers, royal lovers and intriguers, Chief Sewers and Grooms of the Stole. In the tradition of John Aubrey's Brief Lives Thomas Hinde invites us to share the public and private lives of some hundred characters at court - from Eudo, Chief Steward to William the Conqueror, to Frederick Ponsonby, George V's Keeper of the Privy Purse. Geoffrey Chaucer, Nell Gwyn, Barbara Villiers, Jane Shore, Sir Walter Raleigh, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Robert Carr, Sir Thomas Overbury, Fanny Burney, Abigail Hill, Talbot Edwards and the Earl of Rochester: these celebrated courtiers jostle with others less famous to form a procession of royal favourites; harlots and poets, adventurers and dwarfs, dukes and orange sellers. Most extracted titles and wealth or political power from their patron, others slipped from favour to… Read More

London: Peter Owen, 1998. A Fine unmarked copy with a Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. 235 pages. 15 illustrations. Genealogical charts to endpapers. The psychiatrist author takes as his starting point the widely held belief that the personality and behaviour of parents and grandparents have a powerful influence on their children, grandchildren even great-grandchildren. An insightful biography arguing that the psychologically damaging upbringing affected his later life and that the effects are still evident in today's Royal Family. 15 illustrations and genealogical trees of the House of Windsor and Queen Alexandra. 311. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Harper Collins, 2003. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped (Fine apart from a mark of fading to front left by a label being removed). xxxv + 535 pages. 40 colour illustrations. Coloured pictorial endpapers. This is the first biography of the fateful relationship between Elizabeth I and Mary Queen of Scots. It was the defining relationship of their lives and marked the intersection of the great Tudor and Stuart dynasties. At its core were their rival claims to the throne of England. Working almost exclusively from contemporary letters and writings, the biographer lets the two Queens speak to us across more than 400 years, their voices and responses surprisingly familiar to our own, their characters vivid, by turns touching and terrible. Mary was executed for plotting Elizabeth's murder, and after Elizabeth's death in 1603, marking the end of the Tudor dynasty, it was a posthumous triumph for Mary, whose son, James I united the English and Scottish… Read More

Geneva: Heron Collectors Edition, 1969. Gold decoration and motifs with cream and gold diamond pattern motif to front board on green leatherette boards. Green and gold decorated endpapers. Historical appendix. Yellow page marker bound in. 47 illustrations. Uniform with Women Who Made History Series. 14. Hard Cover. Fine/No Jacket. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books, 1985. A Very Good+ unmarked copy which has light bumping to top corner tips. Internally very clean and unmarked. Dustjacketis VG+ and is not price-clipped. A large format volume of 208 pages. Illustrated throughout. The book tells the stories of some of the most influential families in England, through the houses they left behind them. The stories are told wherever possible in the words of their present owners, who are in many cases the direct descendants of the original owners. They describe the varying fortunes enjoyed or suffered by different generations. PLEASE NOTE: A HEAVY BOOK OF 0.85 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE EXTRA SHIPPING COST D4C. First. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 4to - over 9¾" - 12" tall.

London: Viking, 1998. A near Fine unmarked copy (Fine apart from age toning to closed edges) with near Fine dustjacket. xiii + 464 pages. 67 illustrations. Geneaological chart. To most English people George III was the king that went mad, to most Americans he is the king stigmatized in the Declaration of Independence as 'unfit to be the ruler of a free people'. In more recent years he has been depicted as 'Farmer George' or 'Mr. King', an absurd figure pottering about Windsor. In this absorbing book Christopher Hibbert reassesses a remarkable man who was widely loved by his subjects, a man of courage and sensibility and a generous patron of scientists, musicians, authors and artists. A HEAVY VOLUME OF 0.94 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE ADDITIONAL SHIPPING COST 15. First. Hard Cover. Near Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Collins, 1972. Gilt title on brown cloth boards which are very clean and unmarked with a hint of wear to spine tail and lower corner tips. Internally there is a small name to front endpaper else very clean, tight and unmarked. A Very Good+ copy. Dustjacket is price clipped. 510 pages, 29 illustrations and genealogical chart endpapers. Since the demolition work of Sir Lewis Namier and his followers biographers have fought shy of this tempting yet dangerously complex subject, and a new study of King George III was badly overdue. This most accomplished biography by Stanley Ayling of a richly human and critically important subject, written with wit, humour, a style of distinction, a sceptical yet never cynical intelligence and warm sympathy, based upon a lifetime's study. **** NOT EX LIB **** **** NOT BOOK CLUB **** **** A HEAVY VOLUME OF 1.0 KILO UNPACKED WEIGHT WHICH MAY REQUIRE EXTRA SHIPPING COST **** 15. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over… Read More

Kew, Surrey: The National Archives, 2007. An As New copy with an As New dustjacket. 240 pages. 30 illustrations. From Renaissance prince to bloated monarch, Henry VIII dominated his country and court for almost 40 years. Destined for the centre stage of Europe, united with the royal line of Aragon, Henry's dramatic break with the Church of Rome led his kingdom into years of turmoil. Yet the headstrong monarch was also a shrewd operator who managed the powerful personalities around him to build one of the most momentous, and controversial, of English reigns. Professor Loades's book explores the fluctuating, often fraught relationship between king and court, his Church and his people, revealing the strategies that bolstered Henry's power, from the shaping of his royal image to the treatment of key players such as Wolsey, Cromwell, Fisher and More. D4D. First Edition. Hard Cover. As New/As New. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Collins, 1974. A clean and unmarked copy VG+ with coloured pictorial endpapers and 46 photographic illustrations. Coloured pictorial dustjacket with portrait of Jennie is price clipped and has a few chips to head. An excellent biography of Lady Randolph Churchill, Winston's American Mother, by her grandson and includes many unpublished letters. This was made into an English television series. **** NOT BOOK CLUB **** B2C. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1991. A Very Good clean, tight and unmarked copy with a small removal to top corner of front endpaper (presumably to remove a name) with VG dustjacket which is not price clipped. 8 pages of illustrations. When Katharine Worsley, a direct descendant of Oliver Cromwell, married Prince Edward, Duke of Kent, the Queen's first cousin, in York Minster on 8 June 1961, both families thought it a romantic if ironic twist to the tales of Roundheads and cavaliers. Valerie Garner recalls Katharine's happy Yorkshire childhood, her long wait to marry the Duke before joining him in Hong Kong as an army wife, her love of music, how her religious beliefs have helped her in difficult times, and her many charitable activities. **** NOT EX LIB **** B2A. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2007. An As New copy in and As New Dustjacket which is not price clipped. xi + 302 pages. 32 illustrations. Family charts of the Children of Queen Victoria, House of Erbach--Schonberg, House of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, Grand Ducal House of Hesse-Darmstadt. The youngest child of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert was a daughter, Beatrice, 'the last princess'. She hardly knew her father, who died when she was only four. But his shadow, and that of her mother's titanic grief, coloured the remainder of Beatrice's long life. When the Prince died, Queen Victoria turned to Beatrice for comfort and distraction. In time she came to rely on Beatrice absolutely, while also demanding her complete submission. Queen Victoria regarded Beatrice as both her companion and secretary, entrusting her to edit and bowdlerise the many volumes of her journal after her death - charge that occupied Beatrice for over 30 years. Despite her mother's determination to prevent her… Read More

London: Hutchinson Gilt motifs and title on red cloth boards with blind embossed picture to front of a group of people from history, including Napoleon which are clean and unmarked with no wear. Internally very clean tight and unmarked. 371 pages. Chronology and index. Uniform with Hutchinson's Library of Standard Lives. Abridged and edited by Ida A. Taylor with index. A noted biography of Elizabeth the First. Not dated but probably 1920's / 1930's. B2D. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.

London: Constable, 1970. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which is not price clipped. 310 pages. Portrait of Francoise de Maintenon and her niece Francoise d'Aubigne to frontispiece and 14 other portraits and illustrations together with 2 geneaological charts. The first biography in English for forty years. Madame de Maintenon became governess to the six bastard children of King Louis XIV and Madame de Montespan, who were being reared in the greatest secrecy. At first Louis disliked the prim, intellectual governess, but when Madame de Montespan's obstreperous temper wearied him, and after her downfall following the notorious Poisons Affair, he became more and more attracted to her. Louis wished to make her his mistress, but Francoise politely declined. Then, when his queen, Marie-Therese, died, he made the sensational decision to marry Francoise morganatically. She was then 48, he 45. And except for one serious quarrel over Quietism, their marriage lasted with complete success… Read More

London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1980. A Fine unmarked copy with near Fine dustjacket which ha a protective cover. The first full length biography of Lord Mountbatten by an author who travelled with him far and wide and interviewed many members of the Royal Family. The last godson of Queen Victoria, he lost his title at age 17 and later married Edwina Ashley a millionairess. Numerous photographs and genealogical charts to endpapers. 23. First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Near Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall.