My heartfelt thanks go to Georgina Laycock, Caroline Westmore and all those at John Murray who have worked so hard on this book; to Juliet Brightmore, who has done wonders with the illustrations; and to Douglas Matthews for yet another superb index.
Illustration Credits
Alamy Stock Photo: here below/StevanZZ; here above left/Hemis; here below left/Heritage Image Partnership Ltd; here centre left/Josse Christophel/portrait by Quentin de la Tour/Louvre Paris; here above left/Josse Christophel/Bibliothèque Nationale Paris. Bridgeman Images: here above left, here centre right, here centre right/all De Agostini Picture Library; here above left and here below left/Photos © PVDE; here centre right; here below left and here above left/both © British Library Board All Rights Reserved; here centre right, here centre left and below right, here below left, here above right, here below/all Louvre Paris; here above right/from Vie des Femmes Célèbres, c. 1505/Musée Dobrée Nantes France; here above left/State Collection France; here below left/style of Corneille de Lyon/Polesden Lacey Surrey UK; here below right/National Gallery of Art Washington DC USA; here above left/studio of Frans II Pourbus/Château de Versailles France; here centre, here above left and below right, here above/all Musée Carnavalet Paris; here below left/La Sorbonne Paris; here below right/National Galleries of Scotland Edinburgh; here below/Château de Versailles; here below left/Private Collection; here above left/State Hermitage Museum St Petersburg Russia; here above right/Musée des Beaux-Arts Valenciennes France; here below right/photo Nadar/The Art Institute of Chicago USA; here centre; here below/UIG; here below. Getty Images: here centre right and here above right/Christophel Fine Art/UIG; here above/Andia/UIG; here below left/Apic; here above left/De Agostini; here above left/Heinrich Hoffmann/ullstein bild; here centre/Bettmann; here/Gabriel Hackett/Archive Photos. REX/Shutterstock: here above right/Gianni Dagli Orti.