SOLD Ralph Sheldon's Tapestry Maps of Elizabethan England * £17 €25 $40 Shipping Included

This exceptional book is now out of print and generally unavailable. It describes the background and history of Ralph Sheldon and his famous tapestry maps. Ralph was described in his lifetime as one of the sufficientist wise men of England and fittest to have been made one of the Council, but for one matter. And that matter was his Catholic faith which made him an outcast and suspect.

Ralph, educated in the Inns of Court, was 30 when his father made provision in his will for the establishment of a tapestry manufactory at the family manor of Barcheston under Richard Hyckes, the apparent English name an alias for an immigrant weaver, described as the only Author and Beginner of his art.  Ralph continued these arrangements which resulted in the weaving of fabulous tapestry maps amongst other items. What is remarkable is the depiction of the country and the architecture, such as the prodigious country seat above and Sheldon's own new house below.

Below you can see the vast scale of the maps woven.

and the depiction of countryside, rivers, bridges and situation of towns and villages just as they were in Elizabethan times.

This softback book packed with textile history is 60 pages in length and is in mint condition.