While our images are electronically watermarked, the antique prints themselves are not. Image does not show full margin.
Spearman, Man at Arms, a Slinger AD 1250 MYK18 $95
Each print measures approximately 10 1/2
by 15 inches
We are offering a selection of superb hand colored
engravings from the 1842 enlarged folio edition of Sir
Samuel Rush Meyrick’s A Critical Inquiry into Antient
Armour, as it existed in Europe, particularly in Great
Britain from the Norman conquest to the Reigns of King
Charles 11.
Meyrick was from a wealthy English merchant family,
though he was disinherited for eloping with a young
Welsh woman, Mary Parry, & his father’s money was left
to Samuel’s son. Sadly, the son died young & Samuel
finally did inherit. More directly, Samuel’s father
passed on to him the love of antiquities including
military regalia, arms and armor.
Samuel started writing & collecting early, and his
first book The History of Cardiganshire was published in
1808, illustrated with his own drawings. A second book,
in collaboration with Charles Hamilton Smith, was on the
early inhabitants of Great Britain.
While working as a barrister, Samuel began collecting
& studying armor which he considered “a wide field of
attractive research, almost entirely unexplored.” Soon
the Meyrick collection began to attract attention of
notables, including Sir Walter Scott and George IV.
Elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1810,
he organized the national collection of arms and armor
at the Tower of London. Even more illustrious, at the
command of George IV, he arranged the collection at
Windsor Castle. Thanks to his work, these collections
remain in a well-preserved & pristine state.
His masterpiece, 'A Critical Inquiry into Antient
Armour… ' established his reputation as the foremost
expert on ancient armor, as is used as a reference to
this day.
Each print is beautifully hand coloured and many are
lavishly illuminated in gold and silver. The print is
folio size at 10 1/2 by 15 inches on top quality white
Whatman watermarked paper. The coloring is absolutely
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