Burling Gallery Exhibit
Yours Truly: | on display January-Spring Break
Salisbury House Library Feature | Salisbury House & Gardens – Des Moines
A Critical Inquiry into Antient Armour: as it Existed in Europe, Particularly in Great Britain, from the Norman Conquest to the Reign of King Charles II by Sir Samuel Rush Meyrick.
1824 | celebrating its 200th anniversary!
Rare first edition of a great work of medieval European armor in three large format folio volumes. This is considered the earliest work to offer a historical perspective on medieval armor. Over 80 illustrations, engravings, hand-colored plates, and illuminated chapter initials throughout. The impressive overview reflects the collection of the author and his family as well as some drawn inspired from designs in illuminated manuscripts, ancient seals, sculpture, stained glass, and grave effigies spanning armor designs of the 11th to 17th centuries. The books include portraits of kings and knights and vignettes of medieval history scenes.
Sir Samuel Meyrick (1783-1848) was a lawyer, historian, antiquarian, and collector of armor and arms. He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in 1810 and over the next decades, curated a large armory collection which was exhibited at Goodrich Court; many pieces from this impressive collection is now at home in the Victoria and Albert Museum, British Museum, and Wallace Collection in London. Meyrick was knighted in 1832 after service to the crown re-organizing the collections at Windsor Castle and the Tower of London.
With Carl Weeks interest in armory, this set is a parallel between his library and the impressive collection of art and antiquities that call Salisbury House and the original library collection!
See these items on display in the Salisbury House library April to late May 2024.
Previous Salisbury House Library Features & Past SHLC Exhibits
The Magic Box | Burling Library Lobby
Presidential Papers from the Salisbury House Library Collection
Four selections from the Salisbury House Library Collection are in the Magic Box on Burling first floor or online. The selected works have presidential ties to US Presidents George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln. On display through February 2024.
