The Costume of the Original Inhabitants of the British Islands. From the Earliest Periods to the Sixth Century to Which is Added that of the Gothic Nations on the Western Coasts of the Baltic, the Ancestors of the Anglo-Saxons and Anglo-Danes.

Hardcover. Fine. Illustrated with 23 hand-colored aquatint engraved plates and 2 original watercolors. Folio. Modern ¼-calf leather binding, over marbled boards; gilt decorated spine with 5 raised bands, morocco labels. London: Printed by William Bulmer & Co., Shakespeare Press, Published by R. Havell . . . 1815. First Edition. Abbey 427. The volume contains 23 hand-colored aquatint plates, including the added hand-colored title page; plus 2 original 19th-century watercolors (perhaps the originals for the book) replacing plates 3 and 5. Pages-plates watermarked Whatman 1811. This was one of a number of books that had been inspired by William Stukeleys work on Stonehenge, which brought Druids and ancient Britons to the forefront of the romantic imagination. The pictures of ancient Britons show a mixture of influences. In part they resemble the images of Native Americans that appeared in early travel literature, but the figures are in poses like those of the classical gods that travelers saw in Greek and Roman sculptures while on the Grand Tour. In addition, they are shown wearing the ornaments and weapons that antiquaries were discovering and publishing in the Society of Antiquaries journal Archaeologia and elsewhere. Bronze swords and rapiers, as well as torcs, socketed axes, gold lunulae and brooches all appear in these imagined recreations of life in ancient Britain. The speculation about the clothing of the early Britons and how they used the various objects is typical of these works. Smiths fanciful images include A Briton of the Interior standing before an earthwork fort, tattooed Maaeatae and Caledonians from North Briton in front of a cromlech, and various Druid priests and bards. His speculations were based on earlier research by Meyrick. Fine.