Arnold-Forester, Frances. Studies in Church Dedications, or England's Patron Saints (3 volume set). London: Skeffington & Son, Piccadilly, Publishers to H.M. the Queen and H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 1899. First Edition. [12525]
Three volumes in white cloth, decorated and titled in red & black, light edge-wear & soil, spines darkened and faded, all joints good, each 9 1/4 x 6 1/4 inches. Page edges stained red, private bookplates of Charles Grant Ellis, small bookseller labels, "W. Heffer & Sons, LTD, Cambridge" on the front paste-downs. xxvi, 520; [iv], 569; [iv], 557, 4 clean pp. The top page corners of vol. i. are bumped. Good. Hardcover.
"The subject of Church Dedications is one that, from a variety of causes, is beginning to attract a good deal of increased interest, not only on the part of students, but also among the general public; and it is hoped that a place may be therefore found for a book which brings together a considerable amount of information relating to our English churches and the saints whose names they bear...This book deals with all the known dedication-names found in England - about six hundred in all. The Appendices give in tabular form certain particulars relating to the dedications of over fourteen thousand of our English churches, while the text gives more or less detailed accounts of all the patron saints mentioned." - Preface.
Frances Egerton Arnold-Forster (1857-1921), b. Dharamshala, British India; d. Leeds, England. Her parents were British and died soon after she was born. Sent to England, she and her siblings were adopted by her aunt and uncle. Frances took an interest in the work of missionaries, and was a member and supporter of the Church Missionary Society and of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel. She wrote of missions and missionaries in her book Heralds of the Cross (1885). "Possibly her most important work is Studies in Church Dedications: or, England's Patron Saints (1899) which was issued in three volumes. This was a novel subject for study - she looked at the reasons why churches were dedicated to particular saints." - wikipedia.
The bookplate belonged to Charles Grant Ellis (1920-2006), b. Sagamore, Massachusetts; d. Punta Gorda, Florida. He was a collector of antique rugs, wrote several books on the subject, and owned one of the finest collections in the United States. During WWII he served in the Army 700th Corp of Engineers working on the Burma Road. After the war he completed his degree in Civil Engineering, and became an avid collector of antique books on architecture.
