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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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memorial brasses
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Sheets of brass set into church floors or walls, engraved with images (frequently a full-length representation of the deceased) and with texts. The sheets of brass and the technique came originally from the Netherlands, but it was in England that their use became widespread. The earliest to survive are those of Margaret and John de Valence (d. 1276, 1277) in Westminster Abbey. Brasses remained popular until the 17C (though many were destroyed in the 16–17C as graven images) and there was a revival in the 19C. Brass-rubbing is a method of acquiring a full-scale facsimile of a brass. Paper is spread over it and rubbed with heelball, graphite or chalk; the recessed lines of the engraved image remain unmarked by the substance and so appear in white on black.
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