The Bayeux Tapestry: The Complete Tapestry in Color

Wilson, David M.

ISBN 10: 0500251223 / ISBN 13: 9780500251225

Published by Thames & Hudson, New York, 2004

About this Item

234pp.incl.index; HB green emboss w/gilt; fine condition w/bookplate; clean,tgiht pgs. DJ tan w/brwn.&blk.-pic.cover; lt.sun on spine. "The purpose of this book is to produce a complete colour reproduction of the Tapestry to the highest present-day standards and to summarize the state of knowledge concerning it.The Tapestry is reproduced in full color over 146 pages, with captions on a fold-out page for easy reference.".

Seller Inventory # 051741

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Bayeux Tapestry: The Complete Tapestry in Color
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson, New York
• Publication Date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0500251223
• ISBN 13: 9780500251225
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Cliches Ville de Bayeux (photos)
• Condition: Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • Stan

About this title

Synopsis

A new edition of a classic book: the complete Bayeux Tapestry in color with an introduction, description, and commentary by a leading authority on the period

In a museum in the small town of Bayeux in Normandy, specially devised to hold this single object, is a strip of linen nearly one thousand years old. It is 230 feet long and about 20 inches high. On it, embroidered in brightly colored wool, are figures of men, animals, buildings, and ships. In a series of vivid scenes, with a running explanatory text in Latin, it relates the invasion of England by William of Normandy and his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Nothing remotely like the Bayeux Tapestry exists anywhere in the world, yet comparatively few people have been to Bayeux to see it and appreciate how totally absorbing it is. This book, first published in 1985, reproduces the Tapestry in full color and makes it accessible as never before. The story told in the Tapestry has all the ingredients of an epic poem, and a cast of characters that includes King Edward the Confessor; his liegeman, Duke Harold; and William, Duke of Normandy. When Edward dies, Harold succeeds him as king. William, who has a better dynastic claim, invades England, and at the Battle of Hastings Harold is defeated and killed. Here the Tapestry breaks off, but it probably originally concluded with William's coronationthe beginning of a sequence of monarchs that has continued virtually unbroken until today, and of the English nation as we know it. The Tapestry is reproduced in full color over 146 pages, with captions on a fold-out page for easy reference. A second reproduction of the Tapestry in black and white has a detailed accompanying commentary. Sir David Wilson, former Director of the British Museum, provides an up-to-date summary of the historical evidence, explaining each episode and covering related topics such as the costumes, armor, ships, buildings, and customs. One of the primary sources for the history of the period, the Tapestry is a social document of incalculable value. It is the sole survivor of an art form that may once have been widespread, the wall-hanging commemorating the deeds of a great man.

About the Author

David MacKenzie Wilson is a British archaeologist, art historian, and museum curator.