A Chronicle Of England B.C. 55 Ð A.D. 1485. The Designs Engraved And Printed In Colours By Edmund Evans. Doyle, James.

ÒEvans colour printing at its very best is seen again in A Chronicle of England, written and illustrated by James Doyle, elder brother of Richard, and published by Longman in 1864Éthe numerous small illustrations are set in the text and printed in up to ten colours, as bright as if they had just been painted. As well as being a most gifted draughtsman, Doyle was a heraldic expert (his Official Baronage of England is still a standard work) and made full use of his knowledge. And no one throughout the nineteenth century could mix such bright and clear inks as Evans. These small illustrations rival anything that even Baxter ever didÓ (McLean, Victorian Book Design, p. 184). Quarto. viii, 462 pp. With eighty-one color-printed woodcuts by Edmund Evans after original drawings by James Doyle. PublisherÕs brown cloth elaborately decorated in gilt. Binding is bright and fresh despite some sunning to spine. All edges gilt. Red coated endpapers. Armorial bookplate of ÒA.F.F.N. and R.H.N.Ó with the motto Òspes salus decusÓ (the Neshem family?) to front flyleaf. Foxing to blan850ks and half-title. Otherwise, very clean throughout. A very good, bright, and attractive copy. First edition with the woodcuts printed by Evans. Martin Hardie states that this was the last volume printed by Evans on a handpress, and ÒMr. Evans told me that he considered this to be the most carefully executed book he had ever printedÓ (English Coloured Books, p. 270). Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England, 241.