Working notebook containing letters and photographs compiled by the writer Francesca Claremont for her full length biography of Catherine of Aragon, published in 1939 by Robert Hale.
Quarto sized notebook (22.5 × 17cm) containing about 100 pages of postcards, handwritten notes, and expert correspondence about Henry VIII’s first queen. Chipping to the backstrip but the binding remains intact. The letters were written to Claremont from experts on Queen Catherine’s life from libraries and museums such as the Victoria & Albert Museum and the Palace of Versailles. The notebook starts with a handwritten index of contents, and then a selection of photographs (at least one albumen image) as well as engravings and postcards of Catherine herself and Ludlow, Peterborough, Thomas Cranmer, Margaret of Lancaster, Henry VIII, Buckden Place, Granada and the Alhambra, Cardinal Wolsey, Anne Boleyn etc. These are interspersed with original correspondence throughout:
1. Handwritten letter from 4 Great Ormond Street on the east window of St Margaret's church in Westminster, Kit Esdaile.
2. A typed letter signed from the Earl of Yaborough of Brocklesby Park giving permission to use a picture of Mary Tudor by Mabuse.
3. A typed letter signed from Muriel Clayton of the V & A Museum's Department of Textiles concerning Catherine's embroidery.
4. A handwritten letter from A J Collins of the British Museum's Dept of Manuscripts on Catherine's will and letters.
5. A typed letter signed from the Peterborough Natural History, Scientific and Archaeological Society on Catherine's funeral and Maria de Salinas' portrait.
6. A typed letter signed from Henry M Hake of the National Portrait Gallery on a portrait of Catherine.
7. A handwritten letter from William Berrington of Little Malvern Court, Malvern Wells, on Catherine's travelling trunk.
8. A typed letter signed from Pierre Ladoue (French poet and curator) of the Chateau de Versailles, on a portrait of Catherine, possibly by Holbein.
9. A handwritten letter from Walter G Bell of Wandsworth Common on Catherine's embroideries. Bell was himself an historian and author.
10. A handwritten letter from Charles ffoulkes, curator of The Armouries at the Tower of London. He was also an historian and author.
11. Three handwritten letters from Lady Cecilie Goff of The Court, Holt, Wiltshire on household accounts, the Duchess of Suffolk and Maria de Salinas.
12. A handwritten letter from Lady Muriel Barclay-Harvey of Ayton Castle, Berwickshire on a portrait of Maria de Salinas.
13. A handwritten letter from Dona Natalia Jimenez on various points of Spanish history.
14. Two handwritten postcards from Catholic priests (Thomas Gilby of Cambridge and Walter Gumbley of St Dominic's Convent in Staffordshire) on pax/pyx.
15. A handwritten letter from the Dean of Peterborough on Maria de Salinas and Catherine's banners.
16. A handwritten letter from Eleanor Adlard of Winchcombe on Catherine's embroidery.
17. A handwritten letter from H M Hake (see no 6) on windows at The Vyne.
18. A post-publication handwritten letter from Edward Prime on Catherine's needlework.
19. A post-publication handwritten letter from Ermengarde Greville-Nugent of Preston House, Benson, Oxfordshire, on aspects of Catherine's life.
