Books have been illustrated since the very earliest days of printing, and the Trust’s collections include several of the earliest examples: from a mathematical book by John Holywood of Halifax (1478) to the Saltram copy of the Nuremberg Chronicle.

From the 19th century, several libraries have photographically-illustrated books, including one presented to Disraeli by Queen Victoria in 1861, and Charles Wilson’s very rare Ordnance Survey of Jerusalem (London, 1865) at Penrhyn Castle, in North Wales.

But more common than any of these are the copperplate books of the 17th and 18th centuries, and the hand-coloured books which became popular with wealthy owners round about the time of the French Revolution.