Suit of Black Armour, 1625
10 1/2 by 15 inches
MYK76 $85
We are offering a selection of superb hand colored engravings from the 1842 enlarged folio edition of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick 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 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 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 colored and many are lavishly illuminated in gold and silver. The print is folio size on top quality white Whatman watermarked paper. The coloring is absolutely magnificent, of a quality & intensity usually only seen in earlier illuminated manuscripts. Each print is accompanied by a copy of the title page. There is no descriptive text.
