Meyrick WEAPONS IN MEDIEVAL EUROPE LONDON 1824 80 COLOURED LITOGRAPHS

T. 1-3 (in 3 vols.). London (London) 1824. Printed by G. Schulze, for Robert Jennings, k. [1], pp.20, [2], LXXVII, 206, fig. plates 30 (including hand-colored); k. [3], p.297, fig. plates 36 (including hand-colored); k. [3], 147, [134], fig. plates 14 (including hand-colored);
Dimensions 40x30cm, uniform binding, period, fawn. A beautifully published work of immense size on the history and evolution of arms in Europe, by Sir Samuel Rusch Meyerick (1783-1848), an English collector and antiquarian, a great expert on the subject. Meyerick primarily discussed English examples from the Norman conquest in 1066 to the reign of Charles II (2nd half of the 17th century). The work was the first such systematic and comprehensive study of the history of European armaments. The author characterized not only the transformations in the design and shape of weapons and armor, but also briefly described the famous European collections (including: in London, Vienna, Brno, Zurich, Berlin, Dresden, etc.). The work is decorated with 80 plates, most of them colored. They depict various types of armaments, while portraying rulers and historically well-known knights and mighty men (among others: kings of England Richard I the Lionheart, Henry VI, Henry VIII, German Emperor Maximilian I Habsburg, earls of Warwick and Pembroke, Joan of Arc). The work is embellished with hand-painted, colorful, gilt-embellished initials opening the subsequent chapters. Cover: red fawn, marbled paper on the faces. Ex-librises. Minor discoloration, otherwise very good condition.