The Bayeux Tapestry by Wilson, David M - 2004

London: Thames & Hudson, 2004. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. 4to. Full green cloth, gilt tilte to spine, blind T&H dolphin device to front board. 234 pp. Fold-out plate list. Colour reproductions of the tapestry, plus B&W photos throughout commentary text. Some sunning to dust jacket, else a very nice copy. In a museum in the small town of Bayeux in Normandy, specially devised to hold this single object, is a strip of linen nearly a thousand years old. It is 230 feet long - and about 20 inches high. On it, embroidered in brightly coloured wool, are figures of men, animals, buildings and ships. In a series of vivid scenes, with a running exploratory text in Latin, it relates to the invasion of England by William of Normandy and his victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. Nothing remotely like the Bayeux Tapestry exists anywhere else, yet comparatively few people have been to Bayeux to see it and appreciate how totally absorbing it is. This book, which reproduces the Tapestry in full colour, has made it accessible as never before.