Brasses and Brass Rubbing By Clare Gittings
Brasses and Brass Rubbing By Clare Gittings (Collectible First Edition Copy)
An Authoritative Guide to the Practical Art, Technical Execution, and Historical Analysis of Monumental Church Brasses
An Authoritative Guide to the Practical Art, Technical Execution, and Historical Analysis of Monumental Church Brasses
Bibliographic Specifications
- Title: Brasses and Brass Rubbing
- Author: Clare Gittings
- Publisher: Blandford Press Ltd, London
- Publication Date: 1970
- ISBN-10: 0713705205
- ISBN-13: 9780713705203
- Edition Details: First Edition, First Printing (Collectible Antiquarian & Craft Release)
- Binding: Original publisher's premium hardcover high-gloss illustrated laminated pictorial boards (issued without a dust jacket).
- Physical Format: Octavo (8vo), 104 pages. Fully indexed and heavily illustrated throughout with a comprehensive archive of monochrome line drawings, historical rubbings, and technical diagrams.
- Language: English
Official Condition Report
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The Book: Good (G)
- Exterior / Boards: The original glazed pictorial boards remain structurally solid and firm. Displays honest signs of storage shelf rubbing, standard edge wear, and localized bumping to the corner tips and spine ends from historical handling. The color artwork remains stable and clear.
- Interior: The structural binding is excellent, completely tight, and highly resilient. Internal pages and illustrations are entirely intact, crisp, and clean. Free from standard consumer ink inscriptions, gift messages, or dealer pencil annotations. Note: The text block edges and internal leaves exhibit common vintage foxing (age spots), entirely consistent with 1970s British paper stocks.
- Preservation: This copy has been read and enjoyed over the decades, yet remains well-preserved. It is now safely fitted with a clear Cellophane archival wrapper to protect the laminated boards from future friction.
- The Dust Jacket: Not Applicable (As Issued on high-gloss printed boards)
Synopsis & Antiquarian Value
Published in 1970 by the historic Blandford Press, Brasses and Brass Rubbing stands as a masterfully concise and practical handbook dedicated to preserving Europe's monumental heritage. Written by renowned antiquarian scholar Clare Gittings, the volume demonstrates exactly how to successfully execute, preserve, and catalog brass rubbings from medieval church floors.
Gittings goes far beyond a basic DIY craft manual to explain the deep historical and genealogical record locked within these metal plates. The text trains the collector to accurately read and interpret what they see—deciphering ancient heraldry, evolutionary shifts in knightly armor, ecclesiastical vestments, and changing societal classes. Supported by detailed black-and-white illustrations and an exhaustive analytical index, this scarce 1970s reference remains an essential addition for antiquarians, medieval historians, and collectors of specialized British heritage literature.
Author Profile: Clare Gittings
Clare Gittings is a highly distinguished British historian, author, and art archivist who spent her prolific career working alongside prominent cultural landmarks, including the National Portrait Gallery in London. A leading world authority on medieval and early modern British death rituals, heraldic monuments, and commemorative art, her academic surveys—such as her landmark work Death, Burial and the Individual in Early Modern England—are highly celebrated within academic circles. Her writing is universally praised for combining rigorous archival research and technical precision with a lively, accessible tone that brings early social histories to life.
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