Imperial folio. 1793 The Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain, William Roy

William Roy's monumental work, The Military Antiquities of the Romans in Britain. Produced in imperial folio size (roughly 56.5 cm tall), with 51 plates (some folding, including a double tri-fold of the Roman Wall).

William Roy was a Scottish military engineer, surveyor and antiquarian. His detailed and scientifically correct measurements of Roman remains in England captured the sites just before development encroached upon them; as such, this work remains a valuable tool and resource regarding the Roman ruins in England. As a surveyor, Roy is accredited with being one of the first to map archaeology in an appropriate manner, with actual and exacting measurements instead of romanticized illustrations.

Bibliographic Details -

Worldcat OCLC number 9118507

Physical Attributes -

Measures approx. 56.5 x 38 x 4 cm. Hardcover, with leather corners and spine. Marbled paper covering boards. Spine with six raised bands, title in gilt in one compartment. Marbled endpapers. Maps/illustrations.

Pages - Title page, 2nd title page, "1a", 2 pages of "contents", i-xvi, 1-206, one leaf "List of Plates", LI (51) plates, 2 leaves of "List of ... Antiquaries..."

Collation - Title page, 2nd title page, "1a", 2 pages of "contents", a-d2, B-Z2, 2A-2Z, 3A-3G2, 51 plates, 3H2 gathering.

Condition -

See pictures. Binding with wear and corner/edge wear. Bump at bottom of front board. Front joint cracked three inches at bottom. Some rubbing to the leather and corners worn through to pasteboards. Corners bumped. Numerous bookseller marks on flyleaf ("L900", "large paper", "uncut", etc). Text block has some toning and thumbing throughout. Page edges deckled (uncut). Library impression circle at bottom of title page. A little cockling (waviness) to pages. Occasional page/corner chip or dog-eared corner. Occasional fox spots. Graphite mark on pg v and xiii. Ghost impression left from page keeper at 18/19.