Topography

With a biographical notice of the Right Reverend Peter Courtenay, to which is added a description of the Courtenay Mantelpiece compiled by Maria Halliday, Limited edition of 200 copies, folding frontispiece engraving measuring 42 x 58 cm of the Courtenay Mantelpiece (see picture below) with loose tissue guard, further b&w illustrations from woodcuts, [vi] & 34 pp, white boards covered with ‘onion-skin’ paper which has split and has been pasted down (see pictures), edges uncut, 3 cm chip at base of spine, some pages a little spotted and browned but binding firm and altogether a good copy, Printed for Private Circulation Only, Torquay 1884

29.5 x 22.4 cm, 710g, no ISBN

Bishop Courtenay was not merely Bishop of Exeter, but was heavily involved in the Wars of the Roses, helping to install Henry Tudor as king. After the Battle of Bosworth, Courtenay was made Keeper of the Privy Seal and officiated at the new King’s coronation.

The fireplace was installed between 1485 and 1486 in the Bishop’s parlour in the west wing of the Bishop’s Palace. It was described as “exceedingly ostentatious” by Pevsner, but ranks as the finest of a series of spectacular late medieval stone fireplaces that were created for various ecclesiastical residences in Exeter. See picture below.

The Bishop’s Palace is not open to the public.

The book has (almost inevitably) been republished in paperback in the United States, and is available in this country for £16.95. However, we have no way of knowing whether the large folding frontispiece has been reproduced. Yer pays yer money an’ yer takes yer choice . . .