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FIRST EDITION. 8vo, 217 x 132 mms., pp. [ii], ii, 75 [76 blank], engraved (lithographed) frontispiece and four other lithographed plates, original wrappers, with paper label on front cover; fore-edges a bit frayed and soiled, frontispiece repaired and separating from text at base, with corresponding defect on verso of front cover and first preliminary leaf, covers soiled. "Corfe Castle is a fortification standing above the village of the same name on the Isle of Purbeck peninsula in the English county of Dorset. Built by William the Conqueror, the castle dates to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The first phase was one of the earliest castles in England to be built at least partly using stone when the majority were built with earth and timber. Corfe Castle underwent major structural changes in the 12th and 13th centuries. The castle remained a royal fortress until sold by Elizabeth I in 1572 to her Lord Chancellor, Sir Christopher Hatton. Ralph Treswell, Hatton's steward, drafted a series of plans of the castle; the documents are the oldest surviving survey of the castle. Lady Mary Bankes defended the castle during two sieges in the English Civil War. The castle was bought by Sir John Bankes, Attorney General to Charles I, in 1635.[25] The English Civil War broke out in 1642, and by 1643 most of Dorset was under Parliamentarian control. While Bankes was in Oxford with the king, his men held Corfe Castle in the royal cause." (Wikipedia), Although the work was reprinted later, this first edition is located by OCLC in the following libraries: BL, Bodleian, Bristol, Victoria and Albert in the UK; Folger and Columbia only in North America. Seller Inventory # 9944
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