Clark - A Concise History of Knighthood - 1784

THE KNIGHTLY ORDERS OF EUROPE ILLUSTRATED IN 82 COPPER ENGRAVINGS
Important first edition of one of the most complete eighteenth-century works dedicated to European knightly orders. Published in London in 1784 by heraldic engraver Hugh Clark, the work offers a detailed history of the religious and military orders of the continent, illustrating their insignia, collars, cloaks, decorations, investiture ceremonies, and genealogies. The richly illustrated apparatus includes copper-engraved plates, finely etched, depicting coats of arms, collars, crosses, insignia, crowns, and emblems of the principal European knightly orders. A fundamental reference work on heraldry, genealogy and the history of chivalry, still regarded today as a standard.
WHY TO BUY
First edition of the most complete work on knightly orders published in Georgian England.
Exceptional illustrative apparatus with copper-engraved plates.
Fundamental repertoire of European heraldry, genealogy and fa laeristics (phaleristics).
Extensive treatment of the Order of the Garter, the Bath, the Thistle, St Patrick and the principal continental orders.
Rare two-volume set, sought after by collectors of military history, nobility and knightly orders.

MARKET VALUE
The first edition of A Concise History of Knighthood represents one of the major English repertoires of the eighteenth century dedicated to European knighthood. Complete copies, preserved in the two original volumes, typically command prices between 500 and 1,000 euros, with higher values for particularly fresh copies, in contemporaneous binding and with illustrious provenance.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full-leather bindings with manuscript labels on the spine and raised bands, very damaged. Obvious wear to spines with cracking, loss of leather, weakened hinges and abrading to the boards; boards detached, pages of each volume split at the center. Internals with natural browning and foxing. In ancient books with a long history, some imperfections may be present, not always noted in the description. Pp. (2): 2nn; 10; 2nn; 286; (4). (4); 4nn; 268; 2nn; (2).

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
A Concise History of Knighthood.
London, Printed for W. Strahan, J. F. and C. Rivington, T. Payne, W. Owen, T. Longman and others, 1784.
Hugh Clark.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
In the eighteenth century knightly orders still formed one of the main instruments of representing European monarchies. Hugh Clark compiled in this work extraordinary documentation on insignia, collars, mottos, statutes and ceremonies of the principal religious and military orders, from the great British orders to those of the Holy Roman Empire, France, Spain, Prussia, Russia and the Italian states. Beyond its historical value, the volume remains a fundamental source for studies in heraldry, genealogy, military fashionology (uniformology) and phaleristics.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Hugh Clark (active in the second half of the eighteenth century) was a London heraldic engraver, genealogist and antiquary. Specializing in the study of British nobility and knightly insignia, he published numerous works on heraldry, noble titles and knightly orders. His History of Knighthood remains his best-known work and continues to be an important bibliographic reference.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Published in 1784, the work was conceived as the most complete English repertory dedicated to European knightly orders. The high cost of the numerous copper-engraved plates limited its print run, making it primarily available to aristocratic libraries, collectors and scholars of genealogy and heraldry. Complete copies of the plates are now considerably less common on the antiquarian market than later reprints.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
ESTC (English Short Title Catalogue).
WorldCat.
British Library Catalogue.
Lowndes, Bibliographer's Manual.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares.
Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates.