The History of the King’s Works, Volumes 1 and 2 (The Middle Ages)

2 volumes. xxiii, 1-552pp; xiv, 553-1140pp. Illustrated with maps and plans etc, including some large fold-out plans. Red cloth-covered boards with gilt titles to spine (boards clean, bright, crisp). Internally neat, clean, bright and tight. Volume 1 has a minor weakness in paper with crack at top, close to gutter affecting front free endpaper and half title page, a couple of small & discrete library stamps). In original dust jackets (a little rubbed at edges and lightly chipped on corners, volume one has a couple of small chips on leading edge). Volumes 1 and 2, covering the Middles Ages, from Offa’s Dyke onwards, of the monumental series issued by HMSO in the 1960s and 1970s providing a history of public building in England from the Middle Ages to the mid-19th century (when the Royal Office of the King’s Works finally became a department of state accountable to Parliament). These volumes cover the Middle Ages from the era of Offa’s Dyke, a period when England’s Kings were among the greatest patrons of architecture in the Western world. Between 1066 and 1485, over 160 castles and 80 palaces and manor houses were at one time or another in Royal possession, while royal piety found expression in great churches such as Westminster Abbey and King’s College Chapel. 4to.

public building, public works, middle ages, Westminster abbey, Architecture, royal building,