William Lack, H. Martin Stuchfield and Philip Whittemore, (Monumental Brass Society, London, 2003), pp. 922, in two volumes. Available from Monumental Brass Society, Lowe Hill House, Stratford St Mary, Suffolk CO7 6JX (tel: 0208 520 5248) at £35.
The preface states: “This volume, devoted to the county of Essex, lists existing brasses, indents and lost brasses, with illustrations of all figure brass pre-dating 1700, selected indents and all later figure brasses.”
This volume follows the approach of earlier volumes in the County Series published by the Monumental Brass Society. The format of earlier lists of Essex brasses, compiled by Rev. Herbert Haines, in 1861, and Mill Stephenson, in 1926, has been continued here. A numbering convention clearly distinguishes between existing brasses listed by Mill Stephenson, existing brasses not originally listed, and lost brasses and lost indents. Illustrations are taken from collections of rubbings and are sometimes complemented with a photograph.
The introduction provides a summary of the more interesting brasses; brasses of national importance; “palimpsests”; unusual brasses; lost brass and discoveries; distinguished people commemorated in brass, and so on. This summary is useful, providing a guide for the selective visitor. The introduction also includes a short commentary on antiquaries and documentary sources having relevance to monumental brasses. Finally, the troubling aspect of the loss of brasses is considered.
The index lists people, places and coats of arms but not brasses by type or category. A chronological list of early figure brasses, a bibliography and a list of abbreviations complete the volume.
The first line of the preface probably indicates that the decision to spit the intended volume into two (volume one lists parishes A-K and volume two parishes L-Y) was forced on the publishers, confronted with more than 950 pages in total. Even in two volumes the book will require careful handling in its soft back form. The production is slightly “pinched” in order to keep the total pages to a minimum, but this has not been done to compromise the text or illustrations. For one new to monumental brasses, the list of abbreviations, for example, might have been included in both volumes.
However, this is inconsequential carping. Nothing should detract from this superb achievement in the publication of the definitive work on Essex monumental brasses. In the preface, the authors welcome any alterations or corrections. It remains to those who possess the volumes to get to work. Those who do not, the volume should be considered an investment in the future study of Essex churches.
The book is dedicated to Nancy Briggs whose scholarly contribution to the volume is warmly noted.