Bentley, John

A Genealogical Table of the Royal Families of England from the Norman Conquest to the Year 1790. [Printed c.1791-2]

London: Longmate, c. 1791-2. Engraved by B. Longmate. First edition, folio, pp.ii, ii, 7 engraved double-page folding sheets blank to verso, ii, ii. 490 mm x 732 mm (380 x700 plate size). Contemporary manuscript inscription recto of fifth sheet at edge and like very small partial manuscript inscription reverse of seventh sheet, scattered very light foxing, generally very clean, endpapers lightly creased, hinge starting internally at bottom edge, small scratch top corner of boards with small slightly darker area, corners and fore-edge lightly rubbed. Bound in quarter-leather with marbled sides, original paper, in custom-made buckram slipcase with leather title label lettered in gilt and with gilt decorative border. N.d., 1790 or 1791. Printed at Noel Street, Soho, by B. Longmate. Very good condition. Scarce.

Genealogical table compiled and meticulously inscribed by "John Bentley, of Bradford in Yorkshire, Attorney at Law." An elaborate family tree with over 250 entries for the English royal family, from "William, Duke of Normandy, called the Conqueror" crowned in 1066, to the children of King George III, including the birth of George Augustus Frederick who later acted as regent for his father and eventually became King George IV. The last entry recorded is for Prince Henry, a younger brother of George III, who died on September 18 1790. Each entry includes birth, death, and often brief biographical information such as their other titles, their marriage and investiture or coronation dates, their burial place, and sometimes relevant details. For example, for King Stephen (crowned 1135): "supplanted his cousin Maud tho' he had he had solemnly sworn to maintain her right to the Crown" and for Maud "carried out a long war against [Stephen], but was at last forced to quit the Kingdom". For Richard III, Bentley states: "invested with the Protectorship of the Kingdom during the minority of his Nephew King Edward V whom with his next brother Richard he caus'd to be smothered in the Tower of London, & thus paved his Way to the Throne on which he seated himself July 6 1483, but his Reign was of no long duration. He was slain at the Battle of Bosworth". An obituary in The Law Times of 1859 for Greenwood Bentley (also a lawyer) the son of John Bentley states that "Mr Bentley's father [i.e. John Bentley] prepared a genealogical table of the Royal Families of England from the Norman Conquest to the year 1790, a copy of which was presented to His Majesty King George the Third, and His Majesty in return presented Mr. Bentley with five guineas and a silver snuff-box.". A truly scarce item in excellent condition. The only other known extant copies are held by the British Library, the Cambridge University Library and the Middle Georgia Library Genealogy Department. Item #102518

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