Sebastian Giustinian (1460 1543) served as the Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry VIII between 1515 and 1519, during which time he sent back frequent and detailed dispatches to the Signory of Venice. In 1515, when Giustinian arrived at the English court, Henry was only twenty-four and described as 'expert in arms, and of great valour, and most excellent in his personal endowments'. In this first of two volumes, Guistinian's letters paint a vivid portrait of a diplomat's life at court, covering treaty negotiations, meetings with Cardinal Wolsey, and the personal qualities of the monarch and his queen. Translator and editor Rawdon Lubbock Brown (1806 83) had an unrivalled knowledge of the Venetian archives: he was the first historian to appreciate the importance of the dispatches sent from London by the Venetian ambassadors. His edition of Giustinian's correspondence provided an entirely new insight into Henry's reign when it was first published in 1854.

Sebastian Giustinian (1460 1543) served as the Venetian ambassador to the court of Henry VIII between 1515 and 1519, during which time he sent back frequent and detailed dispatches to the Signory of Venice. Guistinian's letters paint a vivid portrait of a diplomat's life at court. In this second of two volumes, Giustinian writes of Sir Thomas More, an outbreak of plague, the predicament of Catherine of Aragon, and many other diplomatic and social matters. Translator and editor Rawdon Lubbock Brown (1806 83) had an unrivalled knowledge of the Venetian archives: he was the first historian to appreciate the importance of the dispatches sent from London by the Venetian ambassadors. His edition of Giustinian's correspondence provided an entirely new insight into Henry's reign when it was first published in 1854. Volume 2 also includes an account of the English embassy to the French court in 1518.