A CRITICAL INQUIRY INTO ANTIENT ARMOUR, as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the reign of King Charles II: With a Glossary of Military Terms of the Middle Ages

3 volumes. First edition. Illustrated with 80 engraved plates, including 71 hand-coloured and with 27 very large illustrated and historiated chapter initials hand-coloured and heightened in gold. Folio, contemporary half crimson morocco over marbled boards, lettered in gilt on the spines between raised bands. 20, lxxvii, 206; 297; 147, glossary. A very handsome and unusually nice set in rare contemporary morocco backed marbled boards, very fresh and clean internally. The bindings are bright, clean and well preserved with very little evidence of age, just a bit of minor shelf or age wear.

Edizione: rare first and best edition of the greatest colour plate book on armour ever produced, rare in contemporary binding. meyrick’s laborious work was practically the first on the subject and remains an authority even today. meyrick considered armour in general to have important connections with many aspects of society: “with the history of the wars of mankind, obviously, and from the remotest periods, it is connected; with the mythology and sacred rites of almost all nations and religions; with the rise and progress of a large portion of the arts; with questions of jurisprudence and civil polity; and with some of the most favorite amusements of all ranks in antient, as well as modern, times” (preface). meyrick demonstrates the significance of armor throughout history by including both carefully detailed textual outlines and profuse and stunning illustrations, many hand-colored and edged in gilt or silver. <br> meyrick was elected a fellow of the society of antiquaries in 1810 and for some years contributed to the "archæologia." in 1826 he was consulted by the authorities at the tower of london as to the arrangement of the national collection of arms and armor, and in 1828, at the command of george iv, he arranged the collection at windsor castle. this is still considered one of his most important works, rarely found in such a well-preserved unsophisticated state.