A book I am very much looking forward to will be published on 12 February (the 461st anniversary of Jane’s execution).
‘A Queen of a New Invention: Portraits of Lady Jane Grey Dudley, England’s ‘Nine Days Queen’ is the outcome of Dr Edwards’ investigation into the various portraits of Lady Jane.
‘Lady Jane Grey Dudley was proclaimed Queen of England on 10 July 1553 following the untimely death of Henry VIII’s only son and successor, King Edward VI. But sixteen-year-old Jane did not have the support of the majority of her would-be subjects. They rallied instead to Henry VIII’s eldest daughter, Mary Tudor. Jane was deposed just nine
days after her reign began, earning for her the sobriquet ‘The Nine Days Queen.’ She was imprisoned in the Tower for six months before finally being executed on 12 February 1554.
Queen Jane remains the only English monarch of the past five centuries for whom no genuine portrait is known to have survived. Dozens of images have been put forward over those five centuries, but none has yet been conclusively authenticated. Neither has any comprehensive academic study of the iconography of Jane Grey Dudley ever been previously undertaken or published.
Now, through almost a decade of research leading up to this volume, twenty-nine surviving portrait-images said to depict Jane have been carefully and systematically sought out, analysed, and contextualized in an effort to determine whether any of them may be a reliable likeness. A handful of additional paintings all now lost are also discussed in detail. Finally, the single written account of Jane’s physical appearance, an account upon which historians have relied over the past century, is analysed for its own authenticity.’
‘J. Stephan Edwards holds a Ph.D. in Early Modern British History from the University of Colorado at Boulder. His Ph.D. dissertation was a biographical study of Jane Grey Dudley that situated her in the rapidly-changing social, cultural, political, and religious milieu of the sixteenth century. His investigation of the iconography of Jane began as an attempt to suitably illustrate his dissertation, but it rapidly evolved into a separate narrowly-focused study of portraits held in both public and private collections on three continents. Select portions of his research and findings on the subject of Jane Grey Dudley have previously been published by both popular and academic presses.’
The book has 222 pages and 29 portraits and74 full-colour illustrations. I will post a link to pre-order the book when it is available.
You can read more about the book at Stephan’s website – Some Grey Matter – A Queen of a New Invention
