Enfilade

Distributed by The University of Chicago Press:

Stephen Lloyd, ed., Art, Animals and Politics: Knowsley and the Earls of Derby (Unicorn Press, 2015), 366 pages, ISBN: 978-1910065822, £60.

Thomas, Lord Stanley, was created Earl of Derby in 1485 after the Battle of Bosworth Field. Since that time the Stanleys—a great Lancastrian family, whose seat, Knowsley Hall, is near Liverpool—have been significant in the life of the nation as patrons and collectors, sportsmen and politicians. These  absorbing essays by a distinguished cast of contributors led by historian David Starkey, writing about the political significance of Lady Margaret Beaufort, the first Countess of Derby, and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough, on Edward Lear’s zoological watercolours (many of which were done at Knowsley), cover key facets of the family’s diverse achievements

Stephen Lloyd is Curator of the Derby Collection at Knowsley Hall, with responsibility for the art collections, the celebrated natural history library and the family archive. In 2013, he organised a major conference at Knowsley, bringing together historians, art historians and natural historians to celebrate the wide-ranging achievements of the Stanley family and to raise the research profile of their legacy.

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Power, Play and Performance, c. 1450–1830
David Starkey, Elspeth Graham, Gill Perry

Patronage and Collecting, c. 1720–1735
Richard Stephens, Jonathan Yarker, Xanthe Brooke

Animals and Edward Lear, c. 1830–1890
David Attenborough, Clemency Fisher, Colin Harrison

Politics and Foreign Affairs, c. 1820–1900
Geoffrey Hicks, Angus Hawkins, Bendor  Grosvenor, Jennifer Davey