FOBO - Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 39/52)

Old England: A Pictorial Museum (page 39/52)

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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.

1143.—Mummers (Bodleian MS.)

On the far left a young mang with curly hair wears a plain robe or long tunic; he plays a lute or other stringed instrment. There are then, from left to right, a person wearing the head of a deer, a person dressed in plain mediæval (or “medieval”) clothes, a person dressed as a rabbit, and another perhaps as a bull, and on the right a woman. The [...] [more...] [$]

1144.—Quarter-staff (From the Old Ballad of Robin Hood and the Tanner.)

“Quarter-staff (Fig. 1144) was the glory of the stout old English peasant or yeoman, in which, as far as we can learn, he was without a competitor in any foreign nation.” (p. 334) [more...] [$]

1145.—Playing at Draughts (Harleian MS. 4431)

Two men in mediæval clothing [US: medieval] sit with a draughts [US: drafts or checkers] board balance between their knees. Two other men, one a knight [...] [more...] [$]

1146.—Chair (Royal M.S. 14 E, iii.)

“The square-backed chair (Fig. 1146) was frequent in the mansions of the thirteenth century. In the fourteenth, they, and other articles combining household utility and elegance, were modified by the pointed architecture, and partook of the beautiful variety of its forms: this, in the engraving of Library furniture (Fig. 1140) we see in the reading-table [...] [more...] [$]

1147.—Hand Organ or Dulcimer, and Violin

Two men are shown with curly hair and mediæval clothing; the violinist wears a hat, a knee-length tunic split to the hip at the side, tight silk stockings and shoes with buckles. The dulcimer player wears a hooded robe, although the hood hangs down from the shoulder. Either his robe has a double sleeve or he has a shirt with a long sleeve buttoned [...] [more...] [$]

1148.—Circular Chess Board (Cotton MS. and Strutt.)

“Draughts (Fig. 1145) and chess were amusements of the higher ranks. The circular board (Fig. 1148) is peculiar; the chess-men differed somewhat in form and name from the ordinary chess-men.” (p. 334) [more...] [$]

1149.—Hand Bells. (Royal MS. 15 D. iii.)

“Dulcimer and violin players (Fig. 1147) were among the regular musical performers mentioned in the roll of Edward III.’s household. Hand bells (Fig. 1149) were also played upon.” (p. 334) [more...] [$]

1150.—The Coronation of Henry IV

The coronation ceremony shown here, at which Henry IV was crowned and became King Henry IV, took place at Westminster Abbey in October 1399. [more...] [$]

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