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

London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1864. First edition. Hardcover. Near Fine. 4to. [5], vi-viii, [1], 2-462, [2] pp. Full brown pebbled leather with gold decorations and rules on the boards, the spine in six compartments with gold decorations and lettering, gilt tooling to the turn-ins; all edges gilt. Purple and gold endpapers and pastedowns. Title page printed in red and black. Illustrated with numerous in-text, brightly colored wood engravings. Doyle himself created the illustrations. His designs were engraved and printed in color by Edmund Evans. Hardie 269. Houfe 121. McLean 184. Muir 157-158. Ray 241. Slythe 28. Bibliographers (truncated) call Evans' color printing in this volume "Evans at his best". Evans is remembered as the most successful engraver and color printer of his generation, raising the standards of book production. The illustrations are varied in the number of colors Evans used to create them, making them appear like paintings on the page. McLean writes "no one throughout the nineteenth century could mix such bright and clear inks as Evans". Ray notes that Evans' engravings are the main reason for the book's continued appeal. Doyle's history of ancient and medieval England is unlike any other, thanks to the artistry used to produce this volume. This copy is stunning. (Inventory #: 000010398)