Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

There are no access restrictions.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions on personal use. Permission to publish material from the Bernard Brenner brass rubbings collection must be obtained from the Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Preferred Citation

Bernard Brenner brass rubbings collection, C0044, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Collection donated by Bernard Brenner in 1996-1998.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections and Archives staff. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in April 2009.

Historical Information

Brass rubbing is a technique to reproduce exactly the engraving on a monumental brass. Rubbings are made by carefully pressing paper onto a carved or incised surface so that the paper conforms to features to be copied. The paper is then blacked and the projecting areas of the surface become dark, while indented areas remain white. In Europe the technique of rubbing is almost exclusively applied to monumental brasses. Monumental brasses are usually figures, inscriptions, shields or other devices, engraved in plate brass and laid as memorials. Brasses originated in Europe where they first appeared in the thirteenth century. Brasses in churches are an important source of heraldic information. It was formerly a custom to put a brass over the grave slab, and on this would be shown a figure of the deceased with his armorial bearings. Following his retirement from United Press International in 1978, Brenner completed the brass rubbings during travels in England. He and his first wife, Madeline Rose Hosmer, wrote a publication on Sir Robert de Bures, a 14th-century knight who lies below a historic brass marker in the English town of Acton, Suffolk.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of 163 brass rubbings from churches dating from 1306-1632 located throughout England. It also contains supplementary materials, including transactions and newsletters of the Monumental Brass Society, 19 books, 2 bibles, and 2 posters.

Arrangement

The brass rubbings are largely unboxed while the supplementary materials are housed in a box near the brass rubbings.

Index Terms

Corporate Names:

• Monumental Brass Society (London, England)

Subjects:

• Brass rubbing--England.
• Heraldry--England.

Document Types:

• Rubbings.