A Critical Inquiry into Antient Armour, as it existed in Europe, but particularly in England, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II ... [with:] Engraved Illustrations of Antient Arms and Armour, From the Collection at Goodrich Court, Herefordshire; After the Drawings, and with the Descriptions of Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick

London: Bohn, 1854. Second edition, corrected and enlarged. First title: 70 hand-colored aquatint plates, 10 plates engraved from line drawings, and 27 superb capital letters, each hand-illuminated. Second title: Engraved frontispiece and and engraved title in each volume, portrait and 150 engraved plates with letterpress text opposite. 5 vols. Folio. The two works in uniform three quarter red morocco, t.e.g. with emblematic tooling on spines, spines of vol. II of first title and vols. I & II of second title repaired with new spine labels, light rubbing to joints, text and plates clean with only very sporadic light foxing. Bookplates of H.W. Parker and Harry Plowman. Second edition, corrected and enlarged. First title: 70 hand-colored aquatint plates, 10 plates engraved from line drawings, and 27 superb capital letters, each hand-illuminated. Second title: Engraved frontispiece and and engraved title in each volume, portrait and 150 engraved plates with letterpress text opposite. 5 vols. Folio. Superb Hand-Colored Plates. The "great work" (ODNB) of Samuel Meyrick (1783-1848), antiquary and leading historian and collector of arms and armor. Meyrick's Inquiry into Antient Armour was first published in 1824 and appears here in an expanded edition. Meyrick constructed Goodrich Court (across the ruins of Goodrich Castle) specifically to display his collection of arms and armor - the second work, by Jospeh Skelton, is an illustrated catalogue of Meyrick's collection, first published in 1830. The collection was offered to the South Kensington Museum in 1868 for £50,000. The museum declined the purchase and the collection was dispersed: "Many of the pieces were bought by the Paris dealer and collector Frederic Spitzer, and some were later acquired by Sir Richard Wallace and are now in the Wallace Collection. Goodrich Court itself was demolished in 1950" (ODNB). Lowndes II, p. 1541; Hiler p. 587; Lipperheide Qb62