Church Plate of the County of Essex (1)

In 1924 members of the Essex Archaeological Society received a final notice to intending subscribers to a volume entitled 'The Church Plate of the County of Essex and the Diocese of Chelmsford, described by the Rev. G. Montague Benton, M.A., F.S.A., the Rev. Canon F. W. Galpin, M.A., F.L.S., and the Rev. W. J. Pressey, M.A., Members of the Council of the Essex Archaeological Society, with an introduction by The Rev. W. J. Pressey, M.A., Vicar of Margaretting, Essex, and numerous illustrations from photographs by the Rev. Canon Galpin.'  The book was published by Messrs Benham and Company Limited of Colchester.  The cost to subscribers would be One Guinea nett, postage 1s. extra. After publication the cost of the volume, which would contain 350 to 370 pages, would increase to 30 shillings. Although £1.50 in today's money, this would nonetheless be a huge outlay. It just goes to prove how the price of publication has dramatically reduced. 

The note describes the book to be "A valuable piece of archaeological work, of lasting interest and utility in Essex.  ... Church Plate embodies a good deal of the history of the past, preserves much heraldry and local lore, and is also full of interest and instruction to the artist and the craftsman".