206 pp / Paperback / November 2013 / ISBN 978-0-7727-2148-8 / $27.95
Edited and translated by Sean Ward
Granddaughter of James I of England, Sophia (1630–1714) began life a penniless princess in exile. She ended it as electress dowager of Hanover. Had she lived two months longer, she would have succeeded to the British crown before her son, George I. In keeping with Sophia’s reputation as the era’s “most entertaining woman,” her memoirs, which she wrote in French, paint a captivating and often humorous portrait of her life as one of Europe’s preeminent noblewomen and celebrities. They also recall, with insight and verve, her interactions with leading men and ladies (Charles II, Louis XIV, Queen Christina of Sweden) and long-forgotten bit players (cavaliers, concubines, clerics, and quacks). The memoirs, which recount the first fifty years of Sophia’s life, appear here in English for the first time in their entirety. Their publication in this series is particularly timely, as it coincides with the three hundredth anniversary of the Hanoverian succession (2014).
To view an excerpt of this work, please click here (PDF).
“This lively historical memoir was written by a fascinating, intelligent, and strong figure who was related to most of the royal houses of Europe. Ward has succeeded marvelously in bringing Sophia of Hanover to life for a modern audience. Readers will be delighted to discover the wit, critical spirit, and storytelling skill of this woman who inhabited and visited many seventeenth-century courts and knew how to write a compelling narrative of her world.”
— Elizabeth Goldsmith, Professor of French, Boston University
Introduction
Memoirs
Appendix
Map: Holy Roman Empire, 1648 (in colour)
Genealogy: House of Orange
Genealogy: House of Stuart
Genealogy: House of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Hanover)
Bibliography
Name Index
Sean Ward (Ph.D., Stanford University, 1998) is a freelance writer and translator. His scholarly articles have appeared in The Seventeenth Century, Seventeenth-Century French Studies, and Jahrbuch des Heidelberger Geschichtsvereins. In addition, he co-edited New Essays on the Origin of Language (De Gruyter Mouton, 2001) and contributed entries on medieval Latin poetry and drama to A New History of German Literature (Harvard University Press, 2004).
Renaissance and Reformation/Renaissance et Réforme, 39.3 (summer 2016). pp 212-214. Reviewed by Lloyed Strickland.
To Order
The Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies no longer sells or distributes books in “The Other Voice in Early Modern Europe: The Toronto Series.” Starting July 2015, volumes can be purchased by individuals and institutions from the Chicago Distribution Center. Contact CDC by email (orders@press.uchicago.edu), by fax (800-621-8476 or 773-702-7212), or by phone (800-621-2736 or 773-702-7000).
206 pp / Paperback / November 2013 / ISBN 978-0-7727-2148-8 / November 2013 / $27.95 (Price includes applicable taxes)
