THE JUBILEE YEARS, - Roger Hudson. (THE FOLIO SOCIETY). 1966 (QUEEN VICTORIA)

Hardback, in dustjacket, in very good condition. Has a Cudeca stamp on inside of front cover, otherwise as new. 1996, The Folio Society .

THE JUBILEE YEARS 1887-1897. (1996). Roger Hudson, compiler & ed. ****.

This was a special presentation volume published by The Folio Society in honor of the 100th anniversary of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria. It examines many aspects of the period between the two jubilee years by providing comments from contemporaries of the time. It is, to say the least, profusely illustrated with paintings, drawings and photographs. It is a marvelous collection of anecdotes divided into the following topics: 1887: The Golden Jubilee; The Governing of the Country; ‘Society’; The Poor; The Queen’s Household; The Queen’s Household; The Queen’s Family; Science, Technology, Transport and Sport; The Music Hall, the Theater and Oscar Wilde; The Navy, The Army and the Empire; Literature, Poetry and Painting; and, 1897: The Diamond Jubilee. The temptation is there to quote extensively from this work since there are so many little tidbits of gossip provided, but I’ll limit myself to just a few. “Frances (Daisy) Brooke, Countess of Warwick, was one of the wealthiest as well as one of the most beautiful women of her age. The inspiration for the music-hall song “Daisy-Daisy”, for some years she was the Prince of Wales’s mistress. He was said to have given her an ankle bracelet inscribed ‘Heaven’s Above’.” It seemed that possessing a mistress was one of the perks of royalty back then, and was widely practiced. This was also a period of intense literary activity. “E. F. Benson declared, talking of literature, that ‘It was in this epoch for which “the Nineties” are a convenient expression that the long-retarded spring burst into fullest summer, and never has there been a more diverse flowering.’ He then cataloged those who were active: Hardy, Wells, Meredith, Conrad, Barrie, Moore, Shaw, Wilde, Stevenson, James.” Each of these writers is discussed in greater detail, along with artists of the time. This was also the time of England’s consolidation of Empire, so that details of their military exploits are also explored. In all, this book gives an intimate first-hand portrait of England during this ten-year period, a period that set the tone for the country’s future. Recommended.

Bookseller in Spain