“THE INCOMPARABLE ARMOURY” (SIR WALTER SCOTT), WITH SPLENDID HAND-COLORED FRONTISPIECE AND 80 MAGNIFICENT FOLIO PLATES (70 HAND-COLORED)
MEYRICK, Samuel Rush. A Critical Inquiry into Antient Armour, As It Existed in Europe, Particularly in Great Britain, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1842. Three volumes. Folio, contemporary three-quarter red morocco, raised bands, elaborately gilt-decorated spines, green morocco spine labels, marbled boards and endpapers, all edges gilt.
Improved and enlarged second edition of Meyrick’s beautifully illustrated work on arms and armor, with hand-colored frontispiece, 80 numbered plates (70 richly colored), and 27 illuminated initial letters. “Practically the first on the subject… [one that] remains an authority” (DNB).
Antient Armor established noted English collector Samuel Meyrick as the leading authority on the topic. He was asked to arrange the national collection of arms and armor in the Tower of London and, at the behest of George IV, at Windsor Castle. The text that accompanies Meyrick’s splendid illustrations is still valued as a primary source on the history and evolution of European armor. First published in 1824, this second edition, containing a magnificent hand-colored frontispiece, 70 full-page hand-colored and illuminated aquatints, ten additional etched plates and 27 illuminated initials, was textually corrected and enlarged by Meyrick himself. Includes a glossary of military terms.
Text and plates fine and colors true, moderate rubbing to extremities of contemporary morocco. An about-fine set.