Hi all,
Fr. Guy’s thread got me wondering: do any of you have a current favorite heraldry book in your personal collection? If so, which one is it?
*apologies if this was already a thread in the past…I took a look but didn’t see one*
Thanks!
Simple Heraldry
Now and forever!
Joseph Staub;99416 wrote:
Simple Heraldry
Now and forever!
...Cheerfully Illustrated!
+1.
snelson;99403 wrote:
do any of you have a current favorite heraldry book in your personal collection? If so, which one is it?
This took alittle time to consider. There are so many. However, I concluded that it must be "Grand armorial équestre de la Toison d’or", ed Michel Pastoureau and Michel Popoff, pub éditions du Gui, 2001. Volume 1 is a facsimile of Bnf, Arsenal ms 4790, while vol 2 contains the notes.
The reproduction of the manuscript is first class and the artwork of the original represents pretty well the apogee of heraldic art at a time when heraldry was still a useful tool in the field and tournament. Perhaps not the finest lines but the clearest and boldest with wonderful movement shown for the equestrian figures. No wonder that Andy Jamieson has been inspired by this to produce his recent series of heraldic illustrations in the similar style of equestrian knights.
Historically the collection dates to the period of the great peace conference, the Congress of Arras of 1435, at which so many international parties were represented and at which perhaps the largest ever gathering of heralds occured. It therefore includes a much wider international range of arms, besides the core French ones, than most other medieval heraldic rolls. This is all researched and written up by two of the best and most prolific contributors to the academic side of heraldry in recent times.
So, good for the coffee table and good for the library reference shelves. All in all a great boxed set - I just wish I could have afforded the leather bound edition. For the record mine is no 559/1100.
There are certainly grander volumes, but I also hold Simple Heraldry, Cheerfully Illustrated as my personal favorite.
+1 for "Simple Heraldry:)
I was lucky to find "Simple Heraldry" at a local used book store. I know that it is easy to find almost anything you want on the internet, but brick-and-mortar stores are still the places where I found out about all the stuff I can’t live without.
Whenever one of my nephews or friends shows and interest in heraldry, this is the one I reach for to help me in my explanations.