Papers of Charles Relly Beard relating to proposed dictionary of costume, arms and armour
Reference code
BEA
Title
Papers of Charles Relly Beard relating to proposed dictionary of costume, arms and armour
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and format
21 boxes
Scope and content
Charles Relly Beard devoted his life to the study of costume, especially arms and armour. By the 1920s he was collecting material for a dictionary of costume and armour. He published a number of books and articles, mainly in the 1920s and 1930s. In the late 1930s, he became an adviser on costume for historical films, working in both Britain and the United States. A list of Beard’s main publications on arms and armour is in the bibliography for the catalogue of European arms and armour, Sir James Mann (Wallace Collection, 1962).
The bulk of the material in this collection was the work of Beard himself, largely from c1920 to the late 1950s. There is, however, a substantial quantity of notes and correspondence accumulated after Beard’s death in 1958 by Claude Blair, FSA (1922-2010).
Beard’s work covered both costume in general and arms and armour in particular without differentiation. He had hoped to produce a dictionary of dress, arms and armour, for which he had signed a contract with the publishers A & C Black in the 1930s, but the work remained unfinished at his death in 1958. Following his death, some of the material on costume was published in an abridged version by C Willett and Phyllis Cunnington, as A Dictionary of English Costume (London, 1960). After this, his papers were passed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to be held in the care of Blair, then Assistant Keeper of Metalwork. In 1960, Blair (‘CB’) separated the material specific to arms and armour into a distinct sequence from that for costume in general, in which order the papers remain.
Repeated attempts by Blair to achieve publication of the arms and armour dictionary came to nothing. Following his retirement from the V&A in 1982, the papers remained at the Museum, while discussions and negotiations about publication continued into the 1990s, culminating in the recruitment of an editor: Christopher King, a graduate of St Andrews with some experience in lexicography, worked from 1984 until his early death in 1995. The material remained unpublished. In 1999, A & C Black agreed to gift 'the manuscript' to 'a suitable institution'. Blair then arranged for the transfer of the material (manuscript notes and typescripts) from the V&A, where it was still held, to the Society of Antiquaries. At that date or later, he added some files of correspondence and papers, dating from the 1950s to the 1990s, gathered mainly by Blair himself during his efforts towards publication.
The bulk of the material in this collection was the work of Beard himself, largely from c1920 to the late 1950s. There is, however, a substantial quantity of notes and correspondence accumulated after Beard’s death in 1958 by Claude Blair, FSA (1922-2010).
Beard’s work covered both costume in general and arms and armour in particular without differentiation. He had hoped to produce a dictionary of dress, arms and armour, for which he had signed a contract with the publishers A & C Black in the 1930s, but the work remained unfinished at his death in 1958. Following his death, some of the material on costume was published in an abridged version by C Willett and Phyllis Cunnington, as A Dictionary of English Costume (London, 1960). After this, his papers were passed to the Victoria and Albert Museum, to be held in the care of Blair, then Assistant Keeper of Metalwork. In 1960, Blair (‘CB’) separated the material specific to arms and armour into a distinct sequence from that for costume in general, in which order the papers remain.
Repeated attempts by Blair to achieve publication of the arms and armour dictionary came to nothing. Following his retirement from the V&A in 1982, the papers remained at the Museum, while discussions and negotiations about publication continued into the 1990s, culminating in the recruitment of an editor: Christopher King, a graduate of St Andrews with some experience in lexicography, worked from 1984 until his early death in 1995. The material remained unpublished. In 1999, A & C Black agreed to gift 'the manuscript' to 'a suitable institution'. Blair then arranged for the transfer of the material (manuscript notes and typescripts) from the V&A, where it was still held, to the Society of Antiquaries. At that date or later, he added some files of correspondence and papers, dating from the 1950s to the 1990s, gathered mainly by Blair himself during his efforts towards publication.
Creator
Beard, Charles Relly (1891-1958), historian of costume, arms and armour
Blair, Claude (1922-2010), museum curator, scholar and antiquary
Blair, Claude (1922-2010), museum curator, scholar and antiquary
Previous reference number(s)
SAL/MS/1015
Archival history
Papers of Charles Relly Beard, passed by his widow and executrix to A & C Black Publishers Ltd, 1958-59, and deposited by them at the Victoria and Albert Museum, Department of Metalwork, c.1960.
Contents