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Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 27/52)

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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: Statue of Guy at Guys Cliff]

418.—Ancient Statue of Guy at Guys Cliff

This is Guy of Warwick, mentioned in some of the Robin Hood stories. [more...] [$]

[picture: Warkworth Castle from a distance]

419.—Warkworth Castle

Dates from the 12th Century but extensvely modified in the 14th and 15th Centuries. Ruined. [$]

[picture: Interior of a Room in Warkworth Castle.]

420.—Warkworth Castle

Interior of a Room in Warkworth Castle. [$]

[picture: Ludlow Castle from a distance]

421.—Ludlow Castle

Ludlow was the capital of Wales in the 16th Century, and this 12th Century (or earlier) castle was the centre for administration. Today it is in ruins, having declined since the engraving was [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: 422.---Goodrich Castle]

422.—Goodrich Castle

Goodrich stands in the Wye Valley (see History of Wales), and has a 12th century central keep about 8 metres (25’) on a side. It’s actually in much better condition than this romantic engraving might lead one to think! [more...] [$]

[picture: 423.---Clifford's Tower, and Entrance to York Castle.]

423.—Clifford’s Tower, and Entrance to York Castle.

Clifford’s Tower is the site of a 12th century massacre of 100 or so Jews probably as a result of the anti-semitic teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. It is the circular structure on the left of the picture, and was rebuilt in stone some [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: 424.---Peverel Castle]

424.—Peverel Castle

“One of the most grandly situated of castles is that of Peveril of the Peak (FIg. 424), built by a natural son of the Conquerer [i.e. a son of William the Conquerer], whose name it bars. This was some centuries afterwards in the possession of William Peveril, a valiant knight, who had two daughters, one of whom, Mellet, having privily resolved to marry none but a knight who should distinguish hiself for his warlike [...] [more...] [$]

[picture: 425.---Interor of Newark Castle]

425.—Interor of Newark Castle

The ruins we can still see today were built by Bishop Alexander (“the Magnificent”) of Lincoln in the first half of the twelfth century, although there was a castle here at [...] [more...] [$]


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