Quentin Durward; Ivanhoe; Kenilworth (Modern Library Giant G12)
New York: The Modern Library, 1945. Reprint. Hard Cover. Good / No Jacket. Item #2325098
1945-63 printing, Toledano G012.1, binding style G5, brown endpapers with centered decoration featuring logo, spines and opened pages of books, and four figures reading. Lacks jacket. Boards lightly soiled, ink mark on rear board, a few lights spots on top edge, hinges just beginning to weaken, half-title page creased.
1138 pp. Quentin Durward is a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, first published in 1823. The story concerns a Scottish archer in the service of the French King Louis XI (1423–1483) who plays a prominent part in the narrative. The plot centres on the medieval rivalry between Louis XI of France and Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy. Louis incites the citizens of Liège to revolt against Charles, and they seize and murder Charles's brother-in-law, Louis de Bourbon, Bishop of Liège, under the command of Louis's ally, William de la Marck, who was hoping to install his son in Louis de Bourbon's place (a real historical event which occurred in 1482). At the time of the murder, Louis is present in Charles' camp at Péronne, hoping to fool him with a false display of friendship. Charles, however, sees through his mask of deceit, accuses him of instigating the uprising, and has him imprisoned. Louis's superior coolness of mind permits him to allay Charles's suspicions and to regain his liberty. In a sub-plot, the Burgundian heiress Isabelle de Croye takes refuge at Louis's court when Charles attempts to give her hand in marriage to his odious favourite Campo-Basso. Louis, in turn, resolves to give her in marriage to the bandit-captain William de la Marck, and sends her to Flanders under the pretence of placing her under the protection of the Bishop of Liège. She is guarded on her journey by Quentin Durward, an archer, who has left behind poverty in Scotland to join the Archers of Louis's Scottish Guard. Quentin prevents the intended treachery and earns Isabelle's love. Charles, though, promises her in marriage to the Duke of Orléans (heir to the French crown) but she refuses, and, in anger, the Duke promises her to whoever brings him the head of de la Marck. This Quentin does with the help of his uncle, Ludovic Lesley, and wins Isabelle's hand.--Wikipedia. Ivanhoe: A Romance (/ˈaɪvənˌhoʊ/) by Walter Scott is a historical novel published in three volumes, in 1819, as one of the Waverley novels. At the time it was written, the novel represented a shift by Scott away from writing novels set in Scotland in the fairly recent past to England in the Middle Ages. Ivanhoe proved to be one of the best-known and most influential of Scott's novels. Set in 12th-century England, with colourful descriptions of a tournament, outlaws, a witch trial, and divisions between Jews and Christians, Ivanhoe is credited for increased interest in chivalric romance and medievalism. John Henry Newman claimed that Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the Middle Ages", while Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin likewise asserted Scott's great influence upon the revival of interest in the medieval period, primarily based upon the publication of the novel Ivanhoe.[1] Moreover, Ivanhoe much influenced popular perceptions of Richard the Lionheart, King John, and Robin Hood.--Wikiepdia. Kenilworth. A Romance is a historical romance novel by Sir Walter Scott, one of the Waverley novels, first published on 13 January 1821. Set in 1575, it leads up to the elaborate reception of Queen Elizabeth at Kenilworth Castle by the Earl of Leicester, who is complicit in the murder of his wife Amy Robsart at Cumnor. Kenilworth is set in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, and centres on the secret marriage of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and Amy Robsart, daughter of Sir Hugh Robsart. Amy passionately loves her husband, and the Earl loves her in return, but he is driven by ambition. He is courting the Queen's favour, and only by keeping his marriage to Amy secret can he hope to rise to the height of power that he desires. At the end of the book, the Queen discovers the truth, to the shame of the Earl. The disclosure has come too late, for Amy has been murdered by the Earl's even more ambitious steward, Varney.--Wikipedia
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