Bossewell (John) Workes of Armorie, 3 parts in 1, first edition, largely printed in black letter, title within typographic border, woodcut initials, numerous woodcut armorial illustrations, with about 76 early skilfully drawn pen and ink armorial illustrations in margins or other blank spaces often with accompanying notes, manuscript index to first 2 blank leaves, many leaves loose and/or frayed, some tears and repairs with occasional loss, last few leaves trimmed at head with slight loss of pagination and running title, hole in Dd2 with slight loss of text and woodcut, some staining, Richard Totell, 1572 bound with A Very Proper Treatise, wherein is briefly sett forthe the arte of Limming, first edition, largely printed in black letter, small pen and ink armorial drawing at foot of title with hole, outline of another ink shield on title and verso heavily annotated in an early hand, soiled, some ink annotations to final leaf, orange powder soiling to inner margins of two leaves, by Richard Tottill, 1573, together 2 works in 1, contemporary calf, rubbed, [STC 3393 and 24252], 4to

⁂ An intriguing "extra-illustrated" copy of these two scarce works with numerous hand-drawn enhancements to the copious heraldic illustrations. Bossewell (d.1580) "draws on nuerous Latin texts as well as French writers, cites such English authors as Lydgate, Gower, Sir Thomas Eliot, and Richard Grafton, and quotes extensively from Chaucer, including the Wife of Bath on gentility. Arcane and full of remarkable, if implausible, information, Bossewell's work is none the less interesting as an example of the sort of learning that delighted Tudor antiquarians..." ODNB.

Provenance: Thomas Dean (early ink name on title).