A Chronicle of England: B.C. 55 - A.D. 1485

DOYLE, James E. A Chronicle of England B.C. 55 – A.D. 1485. The Designs Engraved and Printed in Colours by Edmund Evans. London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts & Green, 1864. 4to, viii 462pp. Brown cloth decoratively stamped in gilt; a.e.g. Brick-red endpapers; profusely illustrated in full color. Binding quite worn at extremeties, two small indentations to top edges, minute traces of foxing at margins of pages, else a clean, tight, internally bright copy.

First edition, being one of only 500 copies printed, in original binding. A wonderful early color illustrated book with over 80 drawings by James Doyle (brother of Richard Doyle and uncle to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). This volume was a major achievement at the time, being one of the first books to have color illustrations printed on the same pages as typeset text pages. Even more impressive are the extraordinarily bright, vivid color illustrations printed from woodblocks engravings in as many as ten colors per illustration. The book details the events from the landing of the Roman legions in England to the Battle of Bosworth Field near the end of the Wars of the Roses. An important achievement in the advancement of illustrated books.