Friday, October 28, 2011

Obscure Book of the Day: The Pictorial Story of Windsor Castle


“The Pictorial Story of Windsor Castle” was published with the subtitle of a quote by Samuel Pepys (the historian who first wrote of Mr. Punch in England), “The Most Romantic Castle That Is In the World.” This is one of two books about Windsor Castle in my collection by the Pitkin Publishing Company. Pitkins produced many of these little volumes about British Heritage, so it’s not terribly surprising that there would be more than one on the same subject. Each takes a slightly different view point. However, my one complaint about these books is that not one of them has a publication date, so, you’ve got to deduce from the text when it was printed.


This one, I think pre-dates the other Windsor Castle book. That other seems to have been written when Elizabeth was already Queen—so, after 1953. This one makes no mention of the monarch at the time of writing, however, the ads in the back seem to be for books referring to Princess Elizabeth and her family. One of them refers to the infant Princess Anne. My guess is that the book was printed around 1951.

But, here’s the great part about these Pitkin books. They are all filled with beautiful pictures and very tightly-written copy. Marguerite D. Peacocke has crafted a splendid tale of the history of Windsor Castle which is brilliantly illustrated with contemporary and historical images.

Let’s take a look inside…









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