Quartermaine Hall

Artisan: Ken Blythe
Date: Unknown
Dimensions: 32 x 24 x 4 mm. / 1 ¼ x 1 x ⅛ inches (height x width x depth)
Inventory number: 2022.190
Intended Room: Library
Category: Books

Provenance: Purchased from the artist’s daughter and son-in-law, who run The Little Book Company, via eBay, in June 2022.

This colourful account of European military costume was first published in German, with a text by Fedor von Köppen, and illustrations by Richard Knötel. In 1890 it was translated into English and updated, by Count Gleichen of the Grenadier Guards, and published by William Clowes & Sons in London. The original text has obviously discoloured slightly, hence the yellow colouring of the images, but it’s still a wonderful historical record (for us) and the source of all manner of daydreams (for the Quartermaine boys).