American Sunday-School Union (corp. author). The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey. Philadelphia: American Sunday School Union, 1831.
Baldwin, Edward. Life of Lady Jane Grey and of Guildford Dudley, her husband. London: Godwin, 1824.
Banks, John. The Innocent Usurper or, The Death of the Lady Jane Gray; a Tragedy. London: Printed for R. Bentley, 1694.
Written as a stage play, this heavily fictionalized melodrama is one of the principal sources for much of the mythology that surrounds the name of Lady Jane Grey, especially the notion that she was deeply "in love" with Guildford Dudley.
Bartlett, D.W. The Life of Lady Jane Grey. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1886.
This is a hagiographic or panegyric work on Jane Grey emanating from the Victorian era when women were idealized for religious piety and personal meekness. Mr Bartlett sought to inspire young women “to imitate the character of the beautiful and illustrious woman whose sad, yet in another sense glorious, career [the book] records.” Unlike many of its predecessors, however, this work provides a concise overview of the entire Tudor period prior to 1550, with particular emphasis on the English Reformation. Mr Bartlett does make some use of authentic primary sources, though like his antiquarian peers he does not reveal where he found them.
Chapman, Hester W. Lady Jane Grey. London: Jonathan Cape, 1962.
Ms. Chapman’s biography of Jane Grey appeared just a few years before the modern feminist movement began. Almost presaging that movement, Chapman notes that a modern reassessment of Jane’s life is much needed, one that focuses on the primary sources rather than the accumulated hagiographic writing and popular mythology. Unfortunately, Chapman does not follow up on her own suggestion. Ms. Chapman was primarily a novelist and thus lacked the training required to produce rigorous historiography. She did nonetheless offer footnotes and cite primary source materials. Her volume is largely an edited and partially reworded version of Richard Davey’s work of 1909, however. She does not offer anything new; nor does she depart from the traditional portrayal despite noting the need for a reassessment of that portrayal.
Church of England Tract Soc.; no. 11. The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey. Bristol: J. Chilcott, 1835.
Cook, Faith. Lady Jane Grey: Nine Day Queen of England. Darlington, UK: Evangelical Press, 2004.
Ms. Cook’s work, like Ms. Chapman’s, is predicated on an intriguing and valid premise: that Jane Grey was more than a mere puppet and victim. Ms. Cook does credit Jane Grey with great intelligence and a strong will, but she portrays Jane primarily as a single-faceted individual driven solely by her religion. Jane is, for Ms. Cook, less a complex young woman living in an era of sweeping change than a pious saint. Insufficient attention is given to Jane’s position as an aristocratic woman in a time of changing social and gender relations. She does offer, however, a great deal of background material, particularly on the issue of religion. But Ms. Cook, herself the daughter of missionaries, writes to serve a specific and narrow religious agenda. Her goal in this work is to place upon Jane Grey a “crown of righteousness” and to promote the evangelical strain of Protestant theology. Her publisher (Evangelical Press) produces only evangelical Protestant inspirational works. Ms Cook's work is better than some recent works, but like so many before her, Ms Cook lacks training in historiographic methodology. She utilizes only a scant five primary sources, fewer even than does Ms Plowden. She quotes frequently and at length, but seldom if ever identifies the source from which she obtained the quotes. The book is entertaining and worth reading, but it is not "serious history."
Dargaud, Jean Marie. Histoire de Jane Grey. Paris: L. Hachette et cie., 1863.
Davey, Richard. The Nine Days Queen: Lady Jane Grey and Her Times. London: Metheun & Co., 1909.
This work was perhaps the single most influential one of the past century, though it is replete with serious flaws. It is unfortunately very difficult to obtain on account of its age. Mr. Davey was an antiquarian, or a person fascinated by the narratives and artifacts of the past. He wrote in an era when academic history was in its infancy, but he nonetheless made some limited use of what are now standard historiographic methodologies. Unlike his less ‘scientific’ predecessors, he usually (though not consistently) cites his archival sources, and relies on primary source materials rather than later mythologies. He assesses his evidence critically, differentiating between “fact” and “fiction” (though his assessments are not always correct). His work is not without its deficiencies, however. Many of his more important sources are poorly or erroneously cited. His description of Jane’s physical appearance on entering the Tower, for example, is drawn from a “Genovese archive,” with no more precise cataloguing information supplied. His depiction of Jane Grey continues the Victorian hagiographic tradition that portrays her as a weak and submissive young woman, in large part because Mr Davey was himself a product of the Victorian era that constructed "Woman" as an idealized form. Despite its shortcomings, however, it has laid the foundation for and been imitated, even paraphrased, by all subsequent biographers of Jane Grey working in the twentieth century.
Davey, Richard Parke. The Sisters of Lady Jane Grey and Their Wicked Grandfather. London: Chapman and Hall, 1911.
By the same author as the above, a continuation of the "story."
de Lisle, Leanda. The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey. London: HarperPress for Harper Collins, 2009.
Ms de Lisle is the first writer with extensive academic training in history to tackle the subject of Jane Grey, though she writes specifically for a general audience rather than an academic one. Sisters deals with all three of the Grey girls, with Jane afforded a bit more than one third of the total volume. De Lisle's work on Jane is a vast improvement over anything that has come before it. She deals extensively, for example, with the nature and origins of the mythology that surrounds Jane's name while debunking much of that mythology. At the same time, she raises some absolutely fascinating ideas on what the myths say about the times in which they were created. Ms de Lisle discusses the routine "how and why" of Jane becoming queen but argues that Jane was no mere puppet of John Dudley. She offers an entirely new and unusual interpretation of both Jane and her reign. And quite by coincidence, Ms de Lisle and I largely agree with each other on the conclusions.
Ms de Lisle makes extensive use of primary source materials, well beyond that seen in the works of other recent writers. While I might like to see more extensive use of footnotes, Ms de Lisle is to be credited for avoiding the frequent citational errors seen in the works of Davey and Plowden. Overall, this is without question the highest quality book available today on Jane Grey, both in terms of scholarly rigor and writing style.
Gibbons, Thomas. The Life & Death of Lady Jane Grey. London: Printed for A. Cleugh, 2nd ed., 1792.
Godwin, William. Life of Lady Jane Grey, and of Lord Guildford Dudley, her husband. London: M.J. Godwin, 1824.
Goodridge, Esther. Lady Jane Gray. Peacehaven: Protestants Today, 1999.
The History of Jane Grey, Queen of England: With a Defence of her Claim to the Crown .... London: Printed and sold by T. Wilkins, 1792.
Hodgson, Francis. Lady Jane Grey: A Tale, in Two Books, with miscellaneous poems in English and Latin. New York: Garland Publishing, 1809, 1977.
Howard, George. Life of Lady Jane Grey (aka Lady Jane Grey and Her Times). London: Sherwood, Neely, and Jones, 1822.
Howard introduces this wonderfully fanciful volume as “a series of facts, anecdotes, and documents,” but it relies far too heavily on outright fiction as a “source” for history. Howard makes extensive use of Shakespeare’s history plays, for example, to provide "factual” background for the era. Given the era in which he was writing, Howard can perhaps be forgiven this indiscretion. The resulting study should never be taken as legitimate “history,” however. It must instead be treated as one small part of the accretion of works that ultimately constructed the modern mythology of Jane Grey.
Isham, Giles. “Queen Catherine Parr and Lady Jane Grey” in Northamptonshire Past and Present Vol. 4, No. 5, 1970/1: 293-4.
Ives, Eric. Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery. UK: Wiley Blackwell, 2009. (scheduled for release on 2 October 2009)
Ives is best known as the author biographies of Anne Boleyn. Now in retirement and reportedly serving as a lay preacher in the Methodist faith, he has turned to a new subject, that of Jane Grey. Though his book is not yet available at this writing, the publisher's promotional materials state that Ives "challenges the view that the crisis in 1553 was a mere footnote to the story of Henry VIII′s reign, showing how the affair illuminates wider questions of royal succession and power in the Tudor age. He demonstrates that Jane Grey′s brief reign had a determining influence on the rest of the century. He also reassesses the role and character of the mysterious John Dudley, duke of Northumberland, the ambitious figure at the heart of the events of 1553 and the man ultimately responsible for Jane′s death." Other reliable sources tell me that one of Ives's central arguments is a legalistic one asserting that Jane was the rightful legal heir to the throne and that Mary was, in fact, a usurper. I will be fascinated to read Ives's interpretation, especially since I disagree with his legalistic opinion.
Laird, Francis Charles. Lady Jane Grey and Her Times. London : Sherwood, Neely and Jones, 1822.
This volume is the same as that by George Howard, above. The author(s) are one individual publishing under two names.
Levin, Carole. “Lady Jane Grey: Protestant Queen and Martyr.” In Silent But For the Word, edited by Margaret Patterson Hannay. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1985.
The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey: With Some Extracts From Her Writings. New York: N. Y. Religious Tract Society, 1830s.
Lindsey, John. The Tudor Pawn: The Life of the Lady Jane Grey. London, 1938.
Luke, Mary. The Nine Days Queen: A Portrait of Lady Jane Grey. New York: William Morrow and Company, 1986.
Mary Luke's “biography” was sold at publication as factual history. It is not. It is historical fiction. Ms. Luke, like Hester Chapman, was principally a novelist. Throughout the book she ascribes to Jane a series of speeches, emotions, and thoughts that are not supported or evidenced by any historical record or document. Though entertaining, the work should never be considered a reliable account of the life of Jane Grey. Ms Luke also appears to be repsonsible for the modern myth that Jane was born on the same day as her cousin, Edward VI.
MacArthur, Arthur. The History of Lady Jane Grey. Glen Falls, N.Y.: Glen Falls Printing Co., 1896.
Mathew, David. Lady Jane Grey: The Setting of the Reign. London: Eyre Metheun Ltd., 1972.
More-Molyneux, J. Letters Illustrating the Reign of Queen Jane, in Archaeological Journal, 30 (1873).
This article is in the antiquarian tradition in that it describes some “curious” artifacts of the past without offering much in the way of contextualization or analysis. The article was written by the owner of the letters described, a member of the family that owned Loseley Park in Surrey. He had inherited them from a More-Molyneux ancestor who had served as executor to the estate of their original recipient. The letters remained in the possession of the More-Molyneux family until quite recently, when they were placed on permanent load to the Surrey History Centre in Woking. The letters, commonly known as the Loseley Manuscripts, constitute the largest single collection of documents bearing Jane’s autograph signature as Queen.
Muriel, John St. Clair. The Tudor Pawn: The Life of the Lady Jane Grey. London: Jarrolds, 1938.
Plowden, Alison. Lady Jane Grey and the House of Suffolk . New York: Franklin Watts, 1986 and Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen. Stroud: Sutton, 2003.
Plowden's two works are here reviewed together as the latter is largely a re-worked version of the former. Both versions are based very heavily on Richard Davey’s earlier work of 1909. Indeed, entire sections are little more than paraphrases of Davey’s text, and Ms Plowden repeats many of Davey’s citational errors. Her study of Jane Grey is currently the most popular and widely read, however. Despite a complete lack of formal training in the profession of history (she is a former script-writer and editor for the BBC), she has forged an admirable place for herself as a writer of histories, principally biographies, for a general audience. But because her audience is a general one, her works are largely narrative and lack analysis. Like her predecessors, Ms Plowden again portrays Jane Grey as a victim and puppet. She apparently did not attempt to access many of the documents and sources now readily available through various UK archives, and the result is a work that offers nothing new. Both volumes offer an excellent and entertaining story, but in my opinion they are little more than that. They are invaluable to the beginning student but lacking the scope and depth required for a serious historiographical study.
Prochaska, Frank. “The Many Faces of Lady Jane Grey.” History Today 35, no.10 (October 1984): 34-40.
Mr Prochaska offers a fascinating discussion of the many visual portrayals of Jane Grey in the twentieth century, particularly in film. Any fan of “Hollywood history” will enjoy this article. The article pre-dates the Paramount Pictures release in 1986 of the film "Lady Jane,” however, so that no discussion of that piece of fiction is presented, unfortunately. One wonders what Mr Prochaska would have to say about the film....
Sidney, Philip. “Jane the Quene”: Being Some Account of the Life and Literary Remains of Lady Jane Dudley Commonly Called Lady Jane Grey. London: Swan Sonnenschein and Co., 1900.
Strickland, Agnes. Lives of the Tudor and Stuart Princesses, including Lady Jane Gray and her sisters. London: Longman Greens, 1868.
Miss Strickland is famous for her inspirational writings on women in history. Her works were all intended primarily as models of behavior for young women of the high-Victorian era, instructive texts on appropriate feminine deportment. As such, they promote obedience, submission to masculine authority, religious piety, a selfless sense of duty to one’s family, etc. Miss Strickland was perhaps more responsible than any other single individual for popularizing the image of Jane Grey as a weak and submissive young woman of great piety and self-sacrifice. The works and her portrayal of Jane Grey are entertaining, but must be read with a vigilant awareness of the time and place in which they were written and the social and cultural agenda that they serve.
Taylor, Ida A. Lady Jane Grey and Her Times. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1908.
Taylor, James D. The Letters of Lady Jane Grey, the Nine Days Queen, 1553: Containing letters from, to, and about Lady Jane Grey. Jefferson , N.C.: MacFarland Press, 2003.
Mr Taylor has clearly spent a great deal of time and effort in producing this volume. Unfortunately the result is largely useless for anything other than entertainment. It cannot in any way be called legitimate "history." The book is replete with flaws, errors, and omissions. The result is, in my opinion, an amateurish mish-mash of authentic and fictional sources that serves only to confuse and mislead any unsuspecting reader seeking to investigate the life and times of Lady Jane Grey.
Mr Taylor relies very heavily, for example, on a supposed “most valuable ... collection of letters" published in 1791 by Minerva Press. Mr Taylor seems not to have adequately assessed the origins of the “letters,” a collection tellingly entitled Lady Jane Grey: An Historical Tale in Two Volumes. "Tale" is the most significant word here. Mr Taylor notes that the letters had been "lost" to historians for over 200 years, until he "uncovered” the eighteenth-century book that contained them. He states that William Lane (then owner of Minerva Press) “purchased [the letters] from an unidentified source ... possibly during the year of 1790 or 1791.” There is a good reason why the "letters" were "lost": most trained historians can and would, after only the most basic research into their origin, immediately recognize them as complete fiction. And although Mr Taylor indicates in the conclusion to his book that he has read Dorothy Blakey’s The Minerva Press, 1790–1820 (London: Printed for the Bibliographical Society at the University Press, Oxford, 1939). [Taylor, p. 183], he apparently failed to comprehend from it that Minerva Press published fiction, notably “Novels, Tales, Romances, Adventures, etc.” Indeed, the “Minerva” name by 1790 synonymous with popular fiction. An eighteenth-century critic noted, “It cannot be denied that most of the works issued by Minerva Press are ... completely expurgated of all the higher qualities of mind.” [See Dorothy Blakey, pp. 2, 18, 26] In modern terms, books by Minerva Press were considered, even in the late 1700s, pulp fiction, mere dime store novels.
Mr Taylor notes that Lane “probably ... purchased the manuscript from an anonymous contributor.” That much is certainly true. But the contributor was also without doubt the actual author of the “letters.” They constitute what is known today as an epistolary novel. Novelists of the late eighteenth century frequently constructed their stories in the form of a series of private letters, often using real historical figures as their protagonists. [See Godfrey F. Singer, The Epistolary Novel: Its Origin, Development, Decline, and Residuary Influence (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933)] Modern readers unfamiliar with the long-dead fictional literary form can, unfortunately, be too easily led astray through failure to recognize the novelist’s device of attributing imaginary letters to real people.
Taylor also correctly notes Blakey’s assertion that it is not possible to conjecture who the original author of the letters might have been. [Taylor, 183] That is because the author wished to remain anonymous. Late-eighteenth-century novelists frequently published anonymously, owing to the negative social stigma associated at that time with being a novelist (or even a reader of novels). The prejudice was so strong that all of the novels published by Minvera Press after 1795 were published anonymously. [Blakey, 48] The contributor of the so-called “Lane Letters” is anonymous because he or she did not wish to incur the disrepute attached to novel- writers, declining to add his/her name to the work.
Mr Taylor asserts that “no evidence suggests the letters are false” [Taylor, 183], perhaps because he is not a trained historian (he is a maintenance man in an auto parts factory) and therefore lacks the skills necessary to assess adequately their reliability. Most persons with a more-than-passing knowledge of mid-Tudor England could quickly spot the many errors contained in the letters. The number and type of errors encountered make it indisputable that the letters are utter fiction. In the "letter" from Henry Grey to Northumberland, for example, [Taylor, p. 18-20, “Lane Letter 86”] Grey addresses Northumberland as “My Lord Protector." Northumberland was never styled “Lord Protector,” the office having been abolished upon Edward Seymour’s fall from power in October 1549. Grey would never have addressed Northumberland by a title he did not hold.
As a second example, many of the letters are supposedly to or from Jane’s “cousin” Lady Anne Grey. There were only three Anne’s in the Grey family during Jane’s lifetime. One was her paternal aunt, born in about 1520. In a letter to Lady Laurana, the supposed Lady Anne speaks of finding her father in perfect health. [Taylor, p. 150] The father of Jane’s aunt Lady Anne had died when Anne was ten years old, more than twenty years before the letter was supposedly written. Jane’s aunt Anne therefore cannot be the writer of the letters. A second "Lady Anne" was indeed Jane’s cousin and the daughter of John Grey of Pirgo. That later Anne, however, was born no earlier than the mid-1540s, making her no more than ten years old when the alleged letters were written and thus too young to be Jane’s correspondent. The only other Anne Grey known during Jane’s lifetime was the wife of John, Baron Hussey. This last Anne had herself died in 1547, again before the letters were supposedly written. It is thus easily discoverable that the “Lady Anne Grey” of the novel is unquestionably a fictitious character, though one perhaps based on a genuine historical person.
Read Mr Taylor's this book for what it is: a compilation of mostly fictional documents that take Jane Grey as their subject. But for legitimate ("real") history, look elsewhere. This book is, in my opinion, a perfect example of why amateur historians and sloppy publishers should never be brought together. Far from clarifying any unresolved issues regarding the history of Lady Jane Grey, this work instead obscures the discernible truth with an overlay of fictional mud that leaves readers completely misinformed and confused and legitimate historians and history teachers scrambling to pick up the pieces.
Zahl, Paul F.M. Five Women of the English Reformation. Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2001.
Mr Zahl is a former minister, and his purpose is religious inspiration. This volume is very brief, and simply repeats the work of others.
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