ISBN 978 1 902163 73 4

Please note, due to the publication date this catalogue may contain outdated terminology. Updated object records can be viewed on Collection Online.

The 'madness' of George III is the one fact about the king that everybody knows. Some might also say that George III ‘lost’ the American colonies. Few would be able to add that George III founded the Royal Academy of Arts, that he was a patron of Samuel Johnson and the astronomer William Herschel, a king who ‘gloried in the name of Briton’, and that amongst his contemporaries George III was noted as an outstanding bibliophile and a renowned connoisseur of music, science, painting and architecture.

The biographies by John Brooke’s and Christopher Hibbert inspired a greater curiosity about George III, as have Alan Bennett’s dramatic works. The distinct artistic concerns of George III’s consort, Queen Charlotte, and those of their twelve surviving children, have also begun to be studied with greater interest.

Published to coincide with the major exhibition at The Queen's Gallery, Buckingham Palace, George III and Queen Charlotte: Patronage, Collecting and Court Taste reconsiders the role of George III, Queen Charlotte and their family in encouraging the arts within the court and society as a whole during the 50 years of the king's reign.

Illustrated by a superb range of works of art in the Royal Collection, the book reveals aspects of George III as a father, monarch and man of letters that have generally been overlooked, and demonstrates his true importance as one of the most wide-ranging, influential and far-sighted collectors of his day. It is an important contribution to studies of the fine and decorative arts in the Georgian period, and will be an essential source of reference for both academics and collectors.

Lady Jane Roberts was the Royal Librarian from 2002 until her retirement in 2013.