“Two Letters on the Origin, Antiquity, and History of Norman Tiles, Stained with Armorial Bearings”
By John Henniker.
Published in London; printed by John Bell...Bookseller to His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wales, in 1794 [mistakenly noted as 1796 by Solon].
description continues below the picture-
- - -
DISCUSSION:
The earliest work in English located by Solon dealing specifically with tiles, and now very uncommon. Solon notes- "The armorial-bearing tiles described in these letters belonged to a pavement, now partly destroyed, which adorned the state-rooms of St. Stephen Abbey (cataloguer's note: now known as The Abbey of Saint-Etienne, it is considered to be one of the most notable Romanesque buildings in Normandy), or 'Abbaye aux hommes' at Caen, built in 1077 by William the Conqueror. Although local traditions and ancient chronicles agree in considering these tiles as containing the scutcheons of the noble families which accompanied William, Duke of Normandy, in his expedition, the date of their making cannot correspond with that of the building of the Abbey. One of these tiles bears the Royal Arms of France, adopted by St. Louis, and it is well known that the armorial bearings were not in use before the crusades; the pavement cannot be, therefore, anterior to the thirteenth century". The author's brother, a Captain in the English military, had been a resident of Caen and sent the first description of the armorial tiles to the author, who then tried to interest British antiquarians in them, with apparently limited success.
The tiles are described here, quoting a Dr. Ducarel- "The floor is paved with tiles...each near five inches square, baked almost to vitrification. Eight rows of these tiles running from east to west are charged with different coats of arms, generally said to be those of the families who attended Duke William in his invasion of England. The intervals between each of these rows are filled up with a kind of tessellated pavement; the middle whereof represents a maze or labyrinth, about ten feet in diameter, and so artfully contrived, that were we to suppose a man following all the intricate meanders of its volutes, he could not travel less than a mile before he got from one end to the other".
A scarce and desirable tile book.
DESCRIPTION:
Hardcover. 5.5"x8.5", 114 pages plus 3 engraved plates reproducing twenty tile designs; bound in period marbled boards with a new leather spine and new endpapers.
CONDITION NOTES:
Boards worn and scuffed. Very minor internal toning and a few light pencil notes but overall internally a very nice copy with wide margins.
- - -
- - -
OVERSEAS BUYERS PLEASE NOTE: Our International shipping charges are based on the weight, when boxed for shipping, of each book -please check the postage chart for the cost of shipping to your country. We offer “combined shipping charges” for orders for more than one book –this often means the shipping cost for the books is less than it would have been if they had been purchased and shipped one at a time, so please ask us for a shipping quote if you are thinking about buying more than one book. Thanks!
-
QUESTIONS about this item? If you have any questions regarding this item, please let us know and we will respond promptly.
We have more books like this listed in our Ebay store!
Joslin Hall Books
Selling books since 1983
INSURANCE??? As a seller we take responsibility for properly packing and delivering your purchase safely to you. You do not have to spend extra for insurance to guarantee that.RETURNS: We want you to be completely satisfied- anything is returnable for any reason at all within 14 days of receipt; we do ask that you notify us that you are returning it.
OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE:
-We always welcome orders from customers outside the United States. The “Free Shipping” marker found on many of our books only applies to shipping within the United States –we wish we could afford to offer free overseas shipping, but we cannot. Please use the “Shipping & Payments” tab (above) to check the cost of shipping. We charge actual shipping based on weight, so sometimes large, heavy, inexpensive books can actually cost more to ship than the book itself costs –I know that seems odd, but the shipping cost is based on the actual weight of the book, not its selling price. If you have any questions, please use the "Ask Us a Question" button before you buy the book.
-Import duties, taxes and related import charges added by your country are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer’s responsibility. Please check with your country’s customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up – please do not confuse them for additional shipping charges, which we never impose. We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as ‘gifts’ to avoid import duties, as this is illegal in most countries.
-
Member of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America
and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers.Your satisfaction is guaranteed with every book you purchase.