Mark Bryant – författare

The rise to power of Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon (1635-1719), a queen in all but name, was nothing short of extraordinary. Born into poverty and ignominy, she used her intellect, charisma, and connections to join the ranks of fashionable society, eventually establishing herself at the French court as governess to the legitimized children of Louis XIV. Her relationship with the Sun King gradually flourished, and after the death of the queen in 1683 the couple secretly married. Although their marriage was never made public, Maintenon came to wield unparalleled influence as Louis XIV's closest confidante and most trusted political adviser. The aging king required her daily presence in governmental meetings and relied on her for advice on crown appointments, state business, and policy making. Her modest suite of apartments at Versailles became the heart of the court and she was pursued by officials and dignitaries, popes and princes from across Europe, all anxious to appropriate her influence. She used her expansive social network to intervene in a range of political, religious, and royal family affairs, but not always with the king's knowledge, and her successes were often outweighed by controversy and failure. In Queen of Versailles Mark Bryant explores the remarkable life and court career of Madame de Maintenon. A study in queenship, it reveals how the dynamics of power and gender operated within the realms of early modern high politics, church-state affairs, and international relations while providing unique insights into the Sun King and his court.

Originally published in 1990 by Routledge, Dictionary of Riddles is a collection of nearly 1500 of the most cryptic and entertaining riddles from history. Drawn from sources throughout the world, the collection ranges from earthy medieval jokes about fleas, worms and vegetables to the sophisticated puzzles composed by literary figures from Schiller, Swift, Voltaire, Rousseau and Cervantes to Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkien. The book traces the history of riddles from their origins in antiquity through the golden age of the Renaissance, to their decline into the nursery and the first few signs of their modern revival, and draws together all the strands of the riddling art. Dictionary of Riddles received a Special Commendation in Reference Review’s Best Specialist Reference Books of 1990 Awards.

Originally published in 1990 by Routledge, Dictionary of Riddles is a collection of nearly 1500 of the most cryptic and entertaining riddles from history. Drawn from sources throughout the world, the collection ranges from earthy medieval jokes about fleas, worms and vegetables to the sophisticated puzzles composed by literary figures from Schiller, Swift, Voltaire, Rousseau and Cervantes to Edgar Allan Poe, Lewis Carroll and J.R.R. Tolkien. The book traces the history of riddles from their origins in antiquity through the golden age of the Renaissance, to their decline into the nursery and the first few signs of their modern revival, and draws together all the strands of the riddling art. Dictionary of Riddles received a Special Commendation in Reference Review’s Best Specialist Reference Books of 1990 Awards.

Originally published in 1994, this dictionary provides a unique 'who’s who' of the major figures in the world of British cartoons and caricatures. It was the first book to encompass the entire field from c.1730 when Hogarth published the first of his 'modern moral pictures' to 1980. In addition to describing the careers and achievements of the artists and the characteristics of their styles, more than 500 entries give details of their publications, their illustrations to books and periodicals, exhibitions of their work, public collections in which their work is represented and literature on or referring to them. More than 150 illustrations are included. This is a comprehensive reference work and will be of interest to social and political historians as well as cartoon and caricature enthusiasts.

Originally published in 1994, this dictionary provides a unique 'who’s who' of the major figures in the world of British cartoons and caricatures. It was the first book to encompass the entire field from c.1730 when Hogarth published the first of his 'modern moral pictures' to 1980. In addition to describing the careers and achievements of the artists and the characteristics of their styles, more than 500 entries give details of their publications, their illustrations to books and periodicals, exhibitions of their work, public collections in which their work is represented and literature on or referring to them. More than 150 illustrations are included. This is a comprehensive reference work and will be of interest to social and political historians as well as cartoon and caricature enthusiasts.

British cartoonists and caricaturists are renowned worldwide. Originally published in 2000, this indispensable handbook offers a unique ‘who’s who’ of all the major artists working in Britain in the twentieth century and contains nearly 500 entries. Extensively illustrated, the book provides information on the work of artists such as Steve Bell, Gerald Scarfe, Posy Simmonds, Ronald Searle, Trog, mac and Larry as well as such past masters as David Low, Vicky, H. M. Bateman, Illingworth, Heath Robinson and more. The dictionary concentrates primarily on political cartoonists, caricaturists and joke or ‘gag’ cartoonists, actively working for the main Fleet Street national dailies and weeklies from 1900 to 1995. Each entry is cross-referenced and provides a concise biographical outline with an account of the artist’s style, influences and preferred medium. Where relevant the entry includes suggestions for further reading and notes solo exhibitions, books illustrated and works held in public collections. The Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists offers an insight into the lives of satirical artists working during a century that provoked cartoonists and caricaturists to a pitch of comic and artistic invention that has rarely been matched.

British cartoonists and caricaturists are renowned worldwide. Originally published in 2000, this indispensable handbook offers a unique ‘who’s who’ of all the major artists working in Britain in the twentieth century and contains nearly 500 entries. Extensively illustrated, the book provides information on the work of artists such as Steve Bell, Gerald Scarfe, Posy Simmonds, Ronald Searle, Trog, mac and Larry as well as such past masters as David Low, Vicky, H. M. Bateman, Illingworth, Heath Robinson and more. The dictionary concentrates primarily on political cartoonists, caricaturists and joke or ‘gag’ cartoonists, actively working for the main Fleet Street national dailies and weeklies from 1900 to 1995. Each entry is cross-referenced and provides a concise biographical outline with an account of the artist’s style, influences and preferred medium. Where relevant the entry includes suggestions for further reading and notes solo exhibitions, books illustrated and works held in public collections. The Dictionary of Twentieth-Century British Cartoonists and Caricaturists offers an insight into the lives of satirical artists working during a century that provoked cartoonists and caricaturists to a pitch of comic and artistic invention that has rarely been matched.

'Handsomely produced . . . All in all, a quite absorbing collection, an easy Christmas present, and a perfect (if bulky) loo-side read.'Jeremy NicholasA wonderful selection of writing on dogs, from Plato to Virginia Woolf, and from ancient Egypt to twentieth-century New YorkFrom beautiful lyrics to madcap waggery, from Elizabeth Barrett Browning's adored lap-dog Flush to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's terrifying Hound of the Baskervilles, and encompassing odes, fables, stories, songs, nursery rhymes and more, Mark Bryant has compiled a wonderfully evocative collection of writing on all kinds of dogs by all kinds of authors. Included are poems by Geoffrey Chaucer, William Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift, Rudyard Kipling, Lord Byron, William Wordsworth, Robert Burns and more; humorous pieces by Lewis Carroll, Edward Lear, Ambrose Bierce and Jerome K. Jerome; and other delights from writers as varied as Charles Dickens, Charlotte Brontë, Christina Rossetti, Anton Chekhov, Mark Twain, the Brothers Grimm, Edith Wharton, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Louisa M. Alcott, Gertrude Stein, Katherine Mansfield, Robert Louis Stevenson, George Eliot and Jack London, amongst others. Covering every genre, from humour and fantasy to romance and horror, and drawn from every part of the world, these stories, poems and excerpts from essays, letters, diaries and journals provide a collection to delight any dog-lover.

Since the early 1970s, Stan McMurtry - better known as MAC - has been the editorial cartoonist of the Daily Mail. Now, forty-five years after his first cartoon for the newspaper, and in the year of Her Majesty the Queen's 90th birthday, MAC has compiled this wonderful selection of more than 120 of his very best Daily Mail cartoons featuring Her Majesty, from the 1970s until the present day. MAC's unerring ability to hit the target and capture the essence of human foibles has made him Britain's leading editorial cartoonist.

Political cartoonist MAC started at the Daily Sketch in 1969. At the end of 2018, he will have been capturing British life for 50 years. To mark these five decades working as an editorial cartoonist in Fleet Street, the very best of MAC's cartoons from the 1960s to the present day have been assembled to tell the history of Britain and its place in the world. From miniskirts and Flower Power to the Falklands War and the rise of Margaret Thatcher, and from the Royal Family and the adventures of Harry Potter to Andy Murray and the Spice Girls, this book provides a unique and humorous perspective on the past fifty years.

From beautiful lyrics to madcap waggery, from the prime suspect in a partridge killing in ancient Greece to the medieval monk's cat Pangur Bán and encompassing odes, fables, stories, limericks, songs, nursery rhymes and more, Mark Bryant has compiled a wonderfully evocative collection of writing of all kinds on cats by those who love them. There are poems from Chaucer, Baudelaire, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy, Christina Rossetti, Shelley and Wordsworth; humorous pieces by Lewis Carroll, Ambrose Bierce, Edward Lear and Jerome K. Jerome; and other delights from writers such as Edgar Allan Poe, Saki and Mark Twain. From ancient Egypt to the recent past, covering every genre, from humour and fantasy to romance and horror, and drawn from every part of the world, these stories, poems and excerpts from essays, letters, diaries and journals provide a collection to delight any cat-lover.

This is the first major study of Britain’s pioneering graphic satirist, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould (1844–1925), the first staff political cartoonist on a daily newspaper in Britain, and the first of his kind to be knighted. Written by the distinguished media historian, Colin Seymour-Ure, it is essential reading for anyone interested in cartoons, caricature and illustration and will also be welcomed by students of history, politics and the media. It examines Gould’s career in Fleet Street until his retirement after the First World War. It also discusses his illustrations for magazines and books and there is an analysis of his use of symbolism and literary allusion to lampoon such eminent politicians as Gladstone and Joseph Chamberlain. As Lord Baker says in his Foreword, this book is ‘a major contribution to our knowledge of British cartooning.’

This is the first major study of Britain’s pioneering graphic satirist, Sir Francis Carruthers Gould (1844–1925), the first staff political cartoonist on a daily newspaper in Britain, and the first of his kind to be knighted. Written by the distinguished media historian, Colin Seymour-Ure, it is essential reading for anyone interested in cartoons, caricature and illustration and will also be welcomed by students of history, politics and the media. It examines Gould’s career in Fleet Street until his retirement after the First World War. It also discusses his illustrations for magazines and books and there is an analysis of his use of symbolism and literary allusion to lampoon such eminent politicians as Gladstone and Joseph Chamberlain. As Lord Baker says in his Foreword, this book is ‘a major contribution to our knowledge of British cartooning.’