Saracenic and Norman Remains to Illustrate Normans in Sicily

Henry Gally Knight

John Murray, 1840

First edition.  Large folio, 58 x 40 cm.  Bound in later, rebacked 3/4 leather, over marbled boards. 5 raised bands. Black leather spine label. Marbled end papers. 30 tinted lithographic plates (including pictorial title).  3 colored engraved plates.  Foxing and perforated institutional stamp on title page.  In later cloth slipcase and chemise.  Creswell 263; Ibrahim Hilmy 1, 345. Not in Abbey.  George Belton Moore, artist. W. Walton, Lithographer. Charles Joseph Hullmandel, Lithographic Printer.  

   Henry Gally Knight traveled to Normandy and Italy in the 1830s to document the architectural remains of the Normans.  This resulted in several publications: An Architectural Tour in Normandy (1836); Saracenic and Norman Remains (1840); and The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Italy (1842-1844). (ODNB, Warwick William Wroth, Knight, Henry, 1892).  Knight authored this work to argue that the evolution of the pointed arch in Norman architecture predated the influence of the returning Crusades.   His argument continues that the pointed arch (a characteristic of Islamic architecture) was in fact adopted in Norman Sicily prior to the Crusades and reflected Norman tendency to adopt the style, form and employee the workmen of the local region.  In 1841, Knight was named fellow of the Royal Society for his work in architecture and other pursuits.  A scarce architectural title. 

This is an oversized or heavy book, which requires additional postage for international delivery outside the US.