Hello,
I am new to heraldry and have no background knowledge on the customs and laws. Does anyone have a good recommendation where to start learning the rules, be it a book or website?
Thanks, all help is much appreciated!
Welcome!
David has pointed you in the right direction, especially regarding American heraldry. May I recommend "Boutell’s Heraldry"? You can find a used copy on abebooks.com for not much money. Be sure to get one of the more recent editions (the most recent is 1983), and don’t get a "print on demand" edition.
If you have a Kindle (or the Kindle app on one of your electronic devices) take a look at the Kindle store, search heraldry and sort lowest to highest - there is The handbook to english heraldry by Boutell and a few others - completely free.
The Google EBook Store also has free books on heraldry you can download….
Kathy McClurg;85091 wrote:
If you have a Kindle (or the Kindle app on one of your electronic devices) take a look at the Kindle store, search heraldry and sort lowest to highest - there is The handbook to english heraldry by Boutell and a few others - completely free.
The Google EBook Store also has free books on heraldry you can download….
This is true. I downloaded the two free heraldry books and bought one for .99 cents. All are good. The only downside is that all of the images are in black and white so it’s a little difficult to imagine colors when discussing tincture rules. Also, in some of them, there are formatting issues. But in all three, the information is solid so if you can get passed to little things then they’re an excellent resource for beginners.
Here are the links:
The Handbook to English Heraldry -
http://www.amazon.com/Handbook-Engli…4617653&sr=1-1
The Manual of Heraldry; Fifth Edition -
http://www.amazon.com/Description-Co…=AG56TWVU5XWC2
Heraldry, historical and popular -
Thank you all so much for the links and sources! It all looks great and informative!
- Andrew
When I was first started, I read all the material on this website, as well as reading "A Complete Guide To Heraldry" by A.C. Fox-Davies. Then the best thing you can do once you’ve read a lot of that information, is to just post any questions you may have on here. It really helps to get direct answers to specific questions you may have . But anyways, welcome to the site, and we hope to see you around.
Regards,
J.Stolarz
Another inexpensive source would be the articles on Heraldry in whatever encyclopedias you can find at the local library—if there are several sets, read them all.
But whatever you read—take them all with a grain of salt. Authors (like all of us!) each have their own pet theories and cultural prejudices. Writing them down in a book, or selling an article to a publisher, doesn’t magically turn those personal quirks into Eternal Truths—which of course can be found only in our AHS Guidelines!
A very useful reference is "A Dictionary of Heraldry" edited by Stephen Friar,
Harmony Books, 1987 ISBN 0-517-56665-6
The contributors and illustrators are some of most notable figures in UK heralrdy, but the scope is not limited to that area. By no means the most comprehensive overview out there, but I like it, and I found Mr. Friar to be
a true gentleman, when I wrote him with some question I had.
David
As I begin to design my coat of arms, is there a way to create it online/this site, or would I draw it by hand and then upload it to the site in order to display it on my profile?
-Andrew
Most of the time people either draw them out by hand, or they start slapping some clipart together until they get the look they want. Then usually one of the people here will throw in their cleaned up version of the arms. At least that’s how it seems to happen around here . I don’t think we artists can resist.
Dear Andrew,
Welcome to the world of heraldry. I am sure you will enjoy your visit, although, you will find it frustrating at times. However, if you do not give up it will be an interest that you can be involved with for the rest of your life.
If you are a complete ‘ignoramus’ when it comes to heraldry, a good book to start with is "Simple Heraldry" by Moncrieffe and Pottinger.
It is a small book with lots of colour and cartoon type illustrations, but, does introduce most aspects of heraldry, so, is a good introduction. Also, it can be read in one sitting.
However, be aware that it does concentrate on heraldry as it occurs in Scotland. (Sir Iain Moncrieffe was a herald at the Court of the Lord Lyon while Don Pottinger was a heraldic artist at the same institution.)
After you have finished that book, try one of the more recent editions of "Boutell’s Heraldry" edited by John Brooke-Little (a former herald at the College of Arms and founder of the Heraldry Society in England). This book is a little more ‘accessible’ to those with a new interest in heraldry.
Brooke-Little’s revision of Fox-Davies’ "Complete Heraldry" would be my next recommendation. It is not as ‘hard going’ as the original version.
Regards,
Iain Boyd