Folio. xxii, 50 pp., 23 figures in text, 46 chromolithographed plates, illustrations printed in brown, original cloth slightly soiled & faded, appendix, occasional marginal soiling, otherwise copy in good condition, privately printed by Taylor & Francis, London, 1891.

Synopsis

RARE. PRIVATELY PRINTED. LIMITED TO 200 COPIES ONLY OF WHICH THIS COPY IS NUMBERED 19. All lithographic stones were erased after printing on the 30th day of June, 1893. All plates present as published from 1 to 26, and from 30 to 43. Loosely inserted in the book are three old photographs of ceramics, two labelled ‘forgery’ in ink by Wallis, the other on verso in pencil ‘the cup of Constantine’ now in the B. M……’. On the verso of the one of the ‘forgeries’ is a pencilled note in his hand, “forgeries made by the dealer in the Via (Scitine) who sold the cup of Constantine to Count T. They were bought by the Revd. of the American Church, at Rome, at his death they were bought by Simonetti ?, who offered them for sale to me. The dealer told me that he made them himself. (Henry Wallis).
It is widely known that the Godman collection contains the rarest examples of the thirteenth-century Persian vases. These masterpieces had a direct influence in East and Southern Europe. Although these masterpieces served in the past as the inspires and stimulating agents to other famous schools, still they will always stand unique and never be reproduced. The art of Islam may be even more splendid and majestic than it was of old, yet it can never precisely recall the special grace and charm belonging to the work of the 13th century artists.
Bibliographic reference: Creswell 779.