Art and Diplomacy: Seventeenth-Century English Decorated Royal Letters to Russia and the Far East

In this study of Art and Diplomacy we see the relationship between renaissance design in decorated borders and the messages conveyed in the texts of royal letters from the English kings to Russia and rulers in the Far East. These are cases of art serving the Crown, with much of the early limning done by Edward Norgate, the English miniaturist. Printed here for the first time from Russian archives, this collection provides a continuum for the study of the limning of royal letters throughout the 17th century. The letters that the decoration enhances reveal the details of privileges and commercial advantages sought by the English, and the cultural interests of the Russians in their requests for English doctors, apothecaries, jewellers, and mineralogists.