gems, jewelry, history of jewelry, British jewelry, ancient jewelry, antique jewelry, glyptic

Drawing on extensive modern research, this book now supersedes Dr Joan Evans's English Jewellery, published over seventy years ago. Covering a span of almost eight centuries, from the Norman Conquest to the accession of Queen Victoria, it is as instructive to the social historian as to the jewellery enthusiast, since it not only tells us what the pieces looked like but sets them in their social context. Furthermore, as Hugh Tait writes in his Foreword, 'to have Diana Scarisbrick's detailed over-view of the complex history of jewellery in Britain is essential if its international contribution is to be accurately assessed'. It is, too, a particular strength of the book that the author has been able to illustrate it with so many pieces from private collections which would not otherwise be easily accessible for study. Diana Scarisbrick has been steadily building a reputation in this field; Jewellery in Britain 1066-1837 will deservedly establish her as an authority.