8vo (171 x 102 mm). Woodcut device on title-page. (Light marginal toning to title.) Contemporary calf gilt, spine in 6 compartments with 5 raised bands, morocco-lettering piece gilt in second (spine ends a bit worn, few splits to joints, front hinge repaired). Provenance: ownership inscription on front free endpaper.

FIRST EDITION IN ENGLISH, an early biography of this "queen without a realm, a Christian without faith, and a woman without shame" (Pope Alexander VII). Widely regarded as one of the most educated women of her age, Christina was crowned at the tender age of six, but abdicated the throne in 1654, aged 27, declaring herself unwilling to marry and provide an heir. Her intellectual curiosity, patronage of the arts, and advocacy for the rights of women are today widely celebrated, but in her lifetime, they brought her many enemies and provoked the ire of the church to which she had converted. RARE: According to online records, no other copies have appeared at auction, and ESTC records only five copies at institutions in the British Isles. ESTC T110827.