Hester W. Chapman (1899–1976)

While most biography concentrates on effective people who have accomplishments that have placed them in the public eye, Hester Chapman has chosen this pair of seriously ineffective people. As a person interested in the operations of the Tudor courts, I did find the pair quite instructive. Henry Howard, the Earl of Surrey was a man who felt he was never to be rewarded enough for his stock of military talents, and his ego led him to the block, under Henry VIII.
Lady Katherine Grey was the sister of the unfortunate nine days wonder, Lady Jane Grey, but her chief goal in life appeared to be a quiet life with her eventual husband Edward Seymour. This couple however, had little chance for happiness, due to their deliberate manipulation by Queen Mary Tudor, and the intense suspicion created by Mary in the mind of Queen Elizabeth I. Their marriage was furtive, and eventually led to Katherine's early death, though not violent, but encouraged by the operations by courtly life under "The Virgin Queen." Love did not conquer all, in this case.… (meer)

The work that I went to in order to own a copy of this book - pre-Internet! That's a story all its own.

I was in high school. Actually, I was about the same age as Edward VI when he died. I was fascinated with the Tudors and with this Tudor in particular. He was my age. I was in love. (Not that he was much of a romantic figure, fyi.)

I looked it up in Books in Print at the library. Supposedly, in print. Went to the local bookstore (remember those?) and wanted them to order it for me. No luck. It was out of print. How could that be? It was in Books in Print! I fear I gave the lady bookseller some grief about this.

Then, a day or two later, I wandered back into the bookstore (yes, a real local bookstore). The lady bookseller didn't see me. She then proceeded to get into a discussion with her co-worker about some teenager wanting this book the other day and insisting it was in print and it wasn't in print and needless to say, she didn't paint a flattering picture of me.

I should have jumped up from behind the stacks and said "Boo!" But I didn't. Did I give her much of my business anymore? Probably not. (So there gossip monger!)

I went through the yellow pages and called booksellers in Denver specializing in antique and out of print books. Finally, someone found me a copy and I paid dearly for this. (I think $15.00 plus shipping but that's a lot for back in the day when you don't have a job.)

At that point, I had to love the book. I couldn't even be objective about it. I came down with bronchitis and a bad cold and I stayed up all night hacking and coughing and reading about this poor king with consumption and I was right there with him.

I still have this book. (I'd better!) I think I'm taking it my grave.… (meer)

This is a reliable enough biography, but it really doesn't add much to the literature. I am ordinarily a fan of Hester Chapman: she brings a slight cynicism, a brisk no-nonsense attitude and detailed thinking to her work that often avoids the common run and produces new insight. Unfortunately, in this case, I think it has led her astray.

It appears to me that Chapman has a horror of being thought a "romantical lady historian", and given some of the works she's quoted that's understandable. The problem is that her determination not to view the world in a romantic or dramatic light makes her unable to understand that other people, the people she is writing about, might. When George Boleyn defies that court and reads his wife's accusatory statement, presumably knowing that this will eliminate what little chance he has of survival, Chapman dismisses it as juvenile nonsense. Maybe he was the type to who preferred to go down fighting, or make a dramatic gesture. Boleyn was probably in his thirties, not an adolescent, and I don't know of any other reason to suppose that he was a perpetual child.

Chapman dismisses the seriousness of Anne's religious convictions, at least until the very end of her life, for no particular reason. She simply announces that Anne was not mature enough and that's that. How does she know? Although Chapman describes Henry in a rather negative manner, I get the feeling that she has a sneaking admiration for him, and that in her mind, it is everyone's duty to accomodate him, even in if it means going to their death. This is just a bit too brisk for me.

This is a reasonably reliable biography if one wants the basic facts, but better books are available. Eric Ives The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn is presently the most definitive, and I also preferred Marie Louise Bruce's biography.… (meer)