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Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 19/52)

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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: 407

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

[picture: 132.---Wall of Severus, near Housestead, Northumberland.]

132.—Wall of Severus, near Housestead, Northumberland.

The engraving shows a part of Hadrian’s Wall, calling it the Wall of Severus in a confusion common since the 17th century. The Wall of Hadrian is a UNESCO world heritage site. [more...] [$]

[picture: 133.---Roman Citizen.]

133.—Roman Citizen.

The engraving shows a statue of a man, the head long gone. the feet also missing; he wears a toga and stands in a niche. [more...] [$]

[picture: 135.---Roman Image of Victory.]

135.—Roman Image of Victory.

Victory, or more properly Victoria, was a Roman goddess personifying victory, including victory after war. Depictions (in painting, sculpture, coins, and elswhere) of Victoria with wings, such as this one, were called vicories, and, representing the idea or spirpit of victory, may have given rise to, or more likely merged with, the concept of Christian angels.

The example in this image is from a Roman statue that was found at Housesteads Fort in Northumberland, UK. A winged figure (presumably female) faces us with one foot resting on what I take to be a [more...] [$]

[picture: 136.---Roman Soldier.]

136.—Roman Soldier.

In the 18th and 19th centuries there was a lot of speculation about Hadrian’s Wall, and people thought parts of it must have been the remains of some large city; you can see some of that confusion in the following text, I think. Fig. 136 is an engraving of a statue of a [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: 142.---Ancient Arch on Road leading into Rome.]

142.—Ancient Arch on Road leading into Rome.

The Roman walls and the Roman arches of Lincoln are monuments of the same great people that we find at Rome itself (Figs. 142, 143). (p. 46) [more...] [$]

[picture: 189.---Arms and Costume of a Saxon Military Chief.]

189.—Arms and Costume of a Saxon Military Chief.

The man in the figure is a Saxon soldier. In one hand he holds up a bowl. In the other he holds his spear and shield. He wears a billowing cloak and either boots or shoes with leggings that leave his knees exposed. He has a helmet with a crest.. In the background is a sailing [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: 190.---Arms and Costume of an Anglo-Saxon King and Armour Bearer.]

190.—Arms and Costume of an Anglo-Saxon King and Armour Bearer.

A King brandishes a sword; he holds a large shield. At his side and slightly behind him, a boy or young man has a smaller shield. [$]

[picture: 191.---Arms and costume of the Tribes on the Western Shores of the Baltic.]

191.—Arms and costume of the Tribes on the Western Shores of the Baltic.

Two young men are dressed as soldiers, with metal plate armour (or possibly leather armour). One has a spear or javelin, and the other a sword; both have shields and helmets. In the foreground a curved sword and an axe; in the background [...] [more...] [$]


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