First Edition. 4to. 2 volumes. [7], vi-xvi, [1], 2-486, [2]; [6], iii-iv, [1], 488-955, [3]. Last three pages are publisher’s advertisements. Completely rebound in modern blue cloth, with a black leather label w/gilt lettering on the spines of both volumes. Volume one is illustrated with an engraved title page and a frontispiece, eighteen additional copper-engraved plates (one is missing), and several wood engravings within the text. Volume two is illustrated with an engraved title page, a copper-engraved frontispiece of burial barrow mounds across the British Isles, and thirteen more copper-engraved plates Volume one covers the history of ancient Roman, Greek, and Egyptian furniture, alphabets, and architecture (including Doric columns and houses of antiquity). Volume One also discusses Anglo-Saxon churches, castles and furniture, and early English hand-writing. The second volume delves into the history of barrows, classical arms and armour, Anglo-Saxon arms and armour, Bronze and Iron Age clothing (in Greece, Rome, and the British Isles), Roman military camp formations, and the history of classical and Celtic coinage As for the condition: Boards are clean and intact, their only fault being a small scuff mark here and there. As for the contents, the condition of volume 1 is as follows. There is moderate foxing at the preliminaries. It is lacking one plate – number 11 – at page 92. Pages 25-32 are loose from the binding. It has clearly suffered some water damage in the past, and as such its pages are cockled and a little stained at their peripheries. All plates are stained, though none so much so that their integrity is jeopradised. For some context, please see our picture of the author’s portrait. This is the worst plate affected – all other plates have fared much better. The condition of volume 2 is comparatively better. It is cockled but, far less than volume 1. Foxing is present but, again, is far less severe. Staining of the plates is comparable to that of volume 1. The binding is tight, and square. Despite this litany of faults, we would argue the overall condition is good. The contents are legible throughout, the pages bright, the binding mostly firm and the plates all retain their original splendor. Fosbroke was an honorary member of the Royal Society of Literature, and an honorary member of the Bristol Philosophical Institution. His encyclopaedia is a masterful study of the clothing, architecture, coinage, and language of the classical and Celtic worlds. This set is a must for archaeology enthusiasts, especially given its early date (long before Schliemann began his work and before Layard’s publications on Nineveh) and its detailed illustrations of ancient and medieval places and artefacts (including the Lion’s Gate of Mycenae, the streets of Pompeii, and Gloucester Cathedral). Overall this is a good set, at a very competitive price considering the addressed faults. Total weight is above 3kg and postage may have to be adjusted accordingly.
| Weight | 3 kg |
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