CORONATION LITERATURE
The Crowning of the Sovereign. By Jocelyn Perkins. (Methuen. 5s.) The English Coronation Service. By E. C. Ratcliff. (Sktffing- ton. 5s.)
The King's Crowning. By Robert J. Murray. (Murray. 3s. 6d.) A History of the Coronation. By. W. J. Passingham. (Sampson Low. 6s.)
The English Coronation Ceremony. By E. F. Twining. (Simp- kin Marshall. 21s.) Westminster Abbey : The Empire's Crown. By Jocelyn Perkins. (Duckworth. 78. 6d.)
Royal Westminster and the Coronation. By J. G. Noppen. (Country Life. 8s. 6d.)
The Royal Letter Book. Edited by Herbert van Thal. (Cresset Press. 155.) A Chronicle of Kingship, 1066-1937. By R. B. Mowat and J. D. Griffith Davies. (Barker. 3os.) Crowned King of England. By Philip Lindsay. (Nicholson and Watson. 6s.)
Royal Cavalcade. By E. Thornton Cook. (Ward, Lock. 2S. 6d.) Royal Progress. By Hector Bolitho. (Batsford. 7s. 6d.) King George the Sixth. By Dorothy Margaret Stuart. (Harrap.
2s. 61.) The Queen. By Lady Cynthia Asquith. (Hutchinson. 75. 6d.) The House of Windsor. A Book of Portraits. (Methuen. 55.) Our Princesses and their Dogs. A Book of Photographs. (Murray.
2s. 6d.) THE list at the head of this review includes both books whose subject is the Coronation and books for which the Coronation is merely the occasion of publication. Naturally enough, the standard of merit is very much lower in the second than in the first class, to which belong the books by Professor Schramm, Dr. Perkins, Dr. Murray, Mr. Ratcliff, Mr. Pas singham and Mr. Twining. But the first of these is the only book on this list that is of real importance. Professor Schramm is the leading European authority on his subject, and his scholarly book will probably come to be regarded as the standard work in its field. It is divided into two sections : the first provides a comparative history of Coronation ceremonies in Western Europe and discusses the pagan and magical elements which were interpo- lated in Christian ceremonies ; the second part discusses the theory of the Coronation in three essays on the consecratory, elective and contractual elements. Professor Schramm's book will be invaluable to readers who have already made some study of its subject ; the other five books will not be above the heads of novices. Dr. Perkins is Sacrist of Westminster Abbey and has taken part in the last two Coronations. His book is " written with the object of making the ceremony of the Coronation intel- ligible to all," and includes chapters on the service and its history, the functions of those who take part in it, the Royal Robes and Regalia, the thrones and chairs, and concludes with impressions of eyewitnesses at six previous Coronations. Mr. Ratcliff covers most of the same ground rather more briefly, and has a learned appendix dealing with points of interest connected with previous Coronations from the earliest down to the Coronation of King George V. Mr. Murray adds to a history of the service and a commentary on the ceremony a not uninteresting essay on the monarchy since 1837. Mr. Passingham, in a book designed for a rather less serious audience, deals with the more picturesque aspects of the Coronation. Mr. Twining's book is illustrated with a series of photographs taken by Sir Benjamin Stone during the Coronation of King George V—the only photographs which have ever been taken during the ceremony. Mr. Twining's book is not innocent of errors, and Mr. Passingham takes his stand on the " historical romance " of the Coronation; but Dr. Perkins', Mr. Ratcliff's and Mr. Murray's books are scholarly as well as intelligible to the common reader. Because it can be found in so many other books about the Coronation, it is perhaps worth while drawing attention to Dr. Perkins' statement that the office of Earl Marshal has been hereditary to the Howards since 1483. In point of fact the creation of 1483 lapsed in 1492, and between that date and 1672, when the hereditary marshalship was created for the Earl of Norwich, the office was held by members of five other families.
With a few exceptions, the remaining books on this list are for those who prefer quantity to quality in what they read about subjects connected with the royal family or with the Coronation. The exceptions are Dr. Perkins' Westminster Abbey and the books by Mr. Noppen and Mr. van Thal. Dr. Perkins' book is a chronicle of the growth of the Abbey and of the place it has come to occupy in national life—it has all the qualities of his other book.; Mr. Noppen's, which is embellished by some exceptionally good photographs, discusses in an interesting way the relationship of Westminster and the Coronation ; Mr. van Thal's is a most attractive selection from the correspondence of members of the royal families of England from William I to George V—it is the only book on this list which can be recommended with confidence to readers in search of enjoyment rather than information, though all but the exceptionally well-read will acquire from it a considerable amount of information too. Professor Mowat and Mr. Griffith Davies are described by their publisher, who has produced their book in a most elegant format and at a ridiculous price, as " writers of what might be termed ' lively history ' " ; the more severe of their readers, agreeing about the " lively " may feel that it would have been more discreet to have left " history " out of it ; but the book, which attempts to relate the Kings of England to their times and. circumstances, is certainly readable. This is more than can *be said for Mr. Philip Lindsay's book, which combines a garish description (it appears, at second hand) of the Coronation ceremony with scrappy accounts of previous Coronations, or for Mr. Thornton Cook's Royal Cavalcade, which provides short biographies of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, together with some miscellaneous information about the Coronation. It can only just be said for Royal Progress, described- as " an intimate history of the British Monarchy during the last hundred years," which is a desultory and somewhat emotional chronicle of some of the activities of Queen Victoria and her successors. King George the Sixth and The Queen. will appeal to the readers Tor whose benefit they were written ; on the contents-page of the former referent; is made to " Page 3 " and a " Foreword "—neither appears to exist. The scope of the last two books on the list is sufficiently indicated by their titles.
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