Excerpt from Joanna of NaplesThe author of the following Tale deems some apology due to the public, for offering them so slight a production, founded on a subject so fertile in materials, for Joanna the First of Naples, the high-minded and ill-fated prototype of Mary Stuart, bloomed and perished at an epoch in the world's history, which can scarcely be exceeded in interest by any given period. It presents a theme worthy of the departed Scott, or the living James.Some years since, the writer perused Mrs. Jameson's Lives of Female Sovereigns with great pleasure, and the impression was a lasting one, - particularly so with regard to the biography of Joanna. She was led by it to examine all the records of that celebrated Queen, to which she had access.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.