This book is one of many collaborations between Andrew Lang and Henry Justice Ford. Even more - it's written by Leonora (Nora) Blanche Lang (born Alleyne), often signed just as Mrs. Lang.
It's a book about real historic persons like Joanne d'Arc or Napoleon Bonaparte, what means we are dealing with non-fiction material, presented in more digestible story-telling format than the same people are known from historic writings and schoolar textbooks.
Our main mission, of course, is focused on illustrations by H. J. Ford, who provided eight color pictures and more then fourty black and white drawings. They were engraved by Messrs. Andre & Sleigh, Ltd., Bushey. All of them are scanned and edited before being published in this article. Each of the illustrations is accompanied by the original text from the book. We used the edition published by Longmans, Green & Co, New York, London, Bombay, and Calcutta, 1908.
The book was dedicated to Elizabeth Angela Margaret Bowes Lyon by the authoress.
Napoleon
Bonaparte commands his first Army
Bonaparte hears the 'Marseillaise' for the first time
'Why did they ever let these beasts enter?'
Bonaparte in the Battery of the Fearless
His Majesty the King of Rome
Feeding the Gazelles with Tobacco
'Open, I want Papa.' 'Sire, I must not let in your Majesty'
Napoleon shows the Portrait to the Generals
The Princess Jeanne
The Oubliettes
Jeanne and the King
Jeanne's rudeness to the Duke of Cleves
The Cardinal reads the King's Letter to Jeanne
Hacon the King
Inga trusts the Baby to Erlend
'To make him grow taller'
Inga endures the Ordeal of the Hot Iron
Mi Reina! Mi Reina!
Marie Louise receives the Visits of Condolence
Marie Louise makes her Petition to the King
Two Spanish Gentlemen rescue the Queen
The Camarera Mayor gets her Ears boxed!
The Queen envies the Flemish Skaters
Henriette the Siege Baby
'If capture is sure blow up the vessel,' she said
Lady Dalkeith's Journey to Dover
'She only waved him out of her path'
'Here, Madame,' said Mazarin, 'are the prizes for a lottery'
The Red Rose
The Red Rose for Lancaster, the White Rose for York
Herbert brings little Henry to his Wife's Tent
Richard's last Charge on Bosworth Field
The White Rose
'You are the first King who has entered Sanctuary'
The King shows Elizabeth her Map of Destiny
'Desolate and dismayed'
The Queen entrusts little Richard to the Cardinal
'Elizabeth goes to the inn to meet the conspirators'
Richard the Fearless
William Longsword is proud of his Son Richard
The Truss of Hay
Frederick and Wilhelmine
The Wig-inspector at Work
'Good gracious, what a figure! Why, she looks like a little dwarf'
Frederick practises his Flute even when out Hunting
'He stamped it down with his heavy boot'
Frederick bids farewell to Katte
Brother and Sister meet again
Une Reine Malheureuse
Marie Antoinette and Mozart
She delighted in her Dancing Lessons
'Led by the King and the Dauphin'
The Swiss Guard present Arms to Marie Antoinette
Marie Antoinette goes Hunting with the Dauphin
The 'Little Queen'
Isabel 'in the dark evenings'
'Look, look!' she cried to her brothers and sisters
Richard and Isabel come to London
The King stops the Duel
Richard's last Farewell to Isabel
King Richard, Duke Henry and Math the Greyhound
Two Little Girls and their Mother
(no pictures)
The Troubles of the Princess Elizabeth
(no pictures)
This is the end of the book. It belongs to the famous The Fairy Book Series with the whole rainbow of fairy books as the most representative among Lang's and Ford's collaborations, including The Arabian Nights Entertainments, but also less known titles like The Animal Story Book or The Book Of Romance. All in all, The Book Of Princes and Princesses is a slightly forgotten yet still a classic and collectible piece today.