Memoirs of the notorious Queen Caroline of Denmark, sister of the King of England, who entered into a love affair with her husband's Doctor Struensee. This led to his execution and her banishment to Celle where she died of Scarlet Fever in 1775 at the age of 23. Quite the sensational tale.
DESCRIPTION: Contemporary sheepskin; joints cracked and tender, corners worn and overall good only. Ownership signature of ‘R. M. Vevers/ Feb. 21/1794’ (probably Richard Vevers, clergyman, 1756-1838) on the front paste-down, with the name and date repeated on the title-page. 12mo, 167 x 96 mm., pp. (ii], 260, engraved portrait as frontispiece. Fingermarking to text; stub of preliminary blank present; final blank present.
CONTEXT: Queen Caroline (1751-1775) was a posthumous daughter of George II and sister of George III, King of England. Her later biographer Wraxall was at first inclined to doubt the authenticity of the book, but on reflection he decided that the circumstantial evidence pointed to it being written by one of her circle, avoiding the displeasure of George III by remaining anonymous. It was reviewed in The Monthly Review in 1776, with an abrupt opening: "In this truly Grubean, though not ill-written performance, poor Mathilda is made to turn Authoress.... These Sketches are tolerably drawn, after pretty good originals; and, on the whole, it is evident, from the promising specimens before us, that if Carolina Mathilda had not, unfortunately for herself, been made a Queen, she might, in time, have arrived at the honour of being even a Monthly Reviewer. N. B. The honest Grub is a warm advocate for the virtue and innocence of his heroine; in which he may be right; though it does not appear he ever travelled to Copenhagen."
The work was also translated into French, with London as the location and Bew as the printer. This second edition is not a reissue of the first also printed in London.
ESTC locates copies of the first edition in BL, and Cambridge; and California State Library. The present, second edition is found in BL (three copies) and the Bodleian, Harvard, Huntington, and Library of Congress in the United States.
