Muriel St. Clare Byrne (1895–1983)

A little hard to read, because o the flowery language of the time, but these are the letters to and from Arthur Plantagenet, who was made Lord Lisle by Henry VIII, his nephew. Arthur is my direct ancestor so I was very interested in this book. Great little treasure!

This is the text of two 16th century "how to learn French" manuals, in the form of dialogues, rather like the old Alliance Française lessons we used to do. The one about the lady getting dressed in the morning is a riot. Since their objective is teaching a foreign language, the dialogues are a bit artificial, but you can glean a great deal of information about daily life in the late 16th century from them.

Viscount Lisle was governor of Calais under Henry VIII. He and his wife kept many of the letters they received, which were fortunately preserved. Interesting details of life in the early 16th century can be gleamed from the letters. Apparently quail were a very popular gift/bribe. This edition is a selection of letters with commentary from the editor.