FOBO - Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 41/53)

Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 41/53)

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[picture: Old England: Photograph of the book]

Old England: A Pictorial Museum of Regal, Ecclesiastical, Baronial, Municipal and Popular Antiquities, Charles Knight (1791 – 1873) London, Charles Knight and Co., Ludgate Street, First Edition, 1845, two volumes, folio, pp. viii, 392; vi, 386, 24 chromoxylographs (incl. frontis.). Many wood-engraved text illustrations.

My copy has contemporary (worn) half-calf with gilt backs; there is some light foxing and dampstaining to the plates and margins of some leaves. Ref. Abbey, Life, 43; purchased D. & E Lake Toronto, 1992.

This book has been reprinted, but the reprint is out of print; you can search for a used copy on Amazon.

I have typed in the index to the book so that you can ask me for other scans if you like.

I have the first few sections online as Old England: A Pictorial Museum if you want to read the actual book!

The book starts with Druidical and Prehistoric remains and continues on to have Castles, Manors and stately homes, Churches, Abbeys and Cathedrals and much more.

Charles Knight also produced an illustrated edition of the Works of Shakspere, as he spelt it.

There is an entry in the Nuttall Encyclopædia for Charles Knight.

Some of the engravings were done by the Dalziel brothers; I have some images from their autobiography, A Record of Work.

Contents

Volume I

Book I. Before the Conquest.

Chapter I. The British Period. [Fig. 1]

Chapter II. The Roman Period. [Fig. 80]

Chapter III. The Anglo-Saxon Period. [Fig. 189]

Book II. The Period From the Norman Conquest to the Death of King John. A.D. 1066—1216.

Chapter I. Regal and Baronial Antiquities. [Fig. 334]

Chapter II. Ecclesiastical Antiquities. [Fig. 491]

Chapter III. Popular Antiquities. [Fig. 795]

Book III. The Period From the Accession of Henry III. to the End of the Reign of Richard II. A.D. 1216—1399.

Chapter I. Regal and Baronial Antiquities. Fig. 814]

Chapter II. Ecclesiastical Antiquities. [Fig. 929]

Chapter III. Popular Antiquities.

Book IV. The Period From the Accession of Henry IV. to the End of the Reign of Richard III. A.D. 1399—1485.

Chapter I. Regal and Baronial Antiquities. [Fig. 1150]

Chapter II. Ecclesiastical Antiquities. [Fig. 1279]

Chapter III. Popular Antiquities. [Fig. 1335]

Although some of the images here are from Volume II, I plan to move them into their own darling little folder, and will make a second table of contents.

This book is online at archive.org (Vol I and Vol II), although the OCR has done a really bad job, and the scans are lower resolution and not cleaned up. But you could use it to request a specific image, and I will scan it for you if it’s not here yet.

Title: Old England: A Pictorial Museum

Author: Knight, Charles

City: London

Date: 1845

Total items: 409

Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free for all purposes usage credit requested, or as marked.

1251.—Storming a Fort. (Haeleian M.S. 4379.)

A few words by way of appendage to this part of our subject may here be devoted to the subject of our engravings, representing the storming of a fort (Fig. 1251), the siege of a town (Fig. 1252), and the chief machines used on such occasions, namely, the breaching and the moveable towers (Figs. 1253 and 1274). Cannon we see were now in constant use. [...] [more...] [$]

1252.—Siege of a Town.

1253.—Breaching Tower; Archers behind their Pavison; Canon, Crossbow-men, &c.

1254.—Jousting Tournament. Harleian MS. 4379

This wood engraving shows two knights on their horses, charging towards one another with their lances pointed. In the background are great tents or marquees and a watching audience. The heraldic [...] [more...] [$]

1273.—Present State of Borthwick Castle.

Bortwick castle was built in the 1430s; it is inhabited (now as a hotel) and is in good condition, despite the grass growing on the battlements in this 1840s engraving. It capitulated to [...] [more...] [$]

1274.—Moveable Towers of Archers, Cannon, etc.

(Royal MS. 14 Edw. IV)

“A few words by way of appendage to this part of our subject may here be devoted to the subject of our engravings, representing the storming of a fort (Fig. 1251), the siege of a town (Fig. 1252), and the chief machines used on such occasions, namely, the breaching and the moveable towers (Figs. 1253 and 1274). Cannon we see were now [14th Century] in constant use. The art of attacking fortified places was greatly advanced by the English during the period under review, as the French had found to their cost when Henry V. was among them. Every town that he attacked he took; a fact that forms a striking contrast to the state of things but a few years before, when, for instance, Edward III. was kept for a whole twelvemonth before Calais, wasting his resources and losing his temper. Henry’s engineers, it appears, drew their lines of contravallation and circumvallation, approached by entrenchments, ran their secret mine through the bowels of the earth, battered the walls with rams as well as artillery, showered darts, stones, and bullets over the ramparts and their defenders.” (p. 382)

Here we see the moveable tower, or siege tower, on wheels, with a large array of planks mounted as a shield to deflect arrows or other missiles; soldiers fire cannon [more...] [$]

1275.—Tomb of Sir John Crosby.

A tomb lies in a quiet corner of a church, partly in deep shadow. [more...] [$]

1303.—Guy’s Cliff in the 17th Century
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