"While the original use of heraldry has long since passed away, its study is by no means obsolete, since a knowledge of its history, a comprehension of its principles, a familiarity with its practice, are still of great value. It has been defined by one writer as the shorthand of history, and the definition is a very happy one. For the pursuit of national or family history, and for the due appreciation of the meaning of countless devices in mediæval illuminations, stained glass, on monuments and seals, and so forth, it is altogether indispensable. The writings of Chaucer, Spenser, Shakespeare, Sir Walter Scott, again, are full of heraldic allusions that are entirely lost on readers who have not at least some little knowledge of our subject, while the artist, in depicting scenes of mediæval life, can by no means ignore a feature so characteristic of the period."
A small sample of the topics touched on in this fine volume include: devices of the tribes of Israel; ancient Greek allusions to personal devices; North American Indian totems; the desire and necessity of distinguishing marks; special epithets; the influence of the Crusades; nobles claiming the right to confer arms; arms borne by ladies; heraldry on seals, stained glass, tiles, stone-carving, coins, brasses, etc.; the value of heraldry to the genealogist and historian; the destruction of ancient records; and, much, much more. An index to names, places and subjects completes this work.
Edward Hulme
(1897), 2016, 5.5" x 8.5", paper, index, 288 pp.
ISBN: 9780788418655
101-H2640
