The Handbook to English Heraldry | Page 2

respect, as it certainly is eminently qualified to inspire such a sentiment in every class of student.
In this spirit I have here treated the elements of the Heraldry of England, confident that, of those who may accompany me as far as I shall lead them, very many will not be content to stop where I shall take leave of them. Thus much I promise my companions--I will be to them a faithful guide. They may trust to my accuracy. I?have made no statement, have adduced no example, nor have I exhibited any illustration, except upon authority. I?myself like and admire what is real and true in Heraldry; and it is by the attractiveness of truth and reality that I desire to win for Heraldry fresh friends, and to secure for it firm friendships.
It will be understood that from the authority, the practice, and the associations of the early Heraldry of the best and most artistic eras, I?seek to derive a Heraldry which we may rightly consider to be our own, and which we may transmit with honour to our successors. I?do not suggest the adoption, for present use, of an obsolete system. But, while I earnestly repudiate the acceptance and the maintenance amongst ourselves of a most degenerate substitute for a noble Science, I?do aspire to aid in restoring HERALDRY to its becoming rank, and consequently to its early popularity, now in our own times. This is to revive the fine old Heraldry of the past, to give to it a fresh animation, and to apply it under existing conditions to existing uses and requirements: not, to adjust ourselves to the circumstances of its first development, and to reproduce as copyists its original expressions. It is not by any means a necessary condition of a consistent revival of early Heraldry, that our revived Heraldry should admit no deviation from original usage or precedent. So long as we are thoroughly animated by the spirit of the early Heralds, we may lead our Heraldry onwards with the advance of time. It is for us, indeed, to prepare a Heraldry for the future, no less than to revive true Heraldry in the time now present. We may rightly modify, therefore, and adapt many things, in order to establish a true conformity between our Heraldry and the circumstances of our own era: for example, with advantage as well as propriety we may, in a great measure, substitute Badges for Crests; and we shall do well to adopt a style of drawing which will be perfectly heraldic, without being positively unnatural.
The greater number of my Illustrations have been engraved only in outline, with the twofold object of my being thus enabled to increase the number of the examples, and to adapt the engravings themselves to the reception of colour. It will be very desirable for students to blazon the illustrations, or the majority of them, in their proper tinctures: and those who are thoroughly in earnest will not fail to form their own collections of additional examples, which, as a matter of course, they will seek to obtain from original authorities. With the exception of a few examples, my Illustrations, considerably over 400, have all been executed expressly for this work; and they all have been engraved by Mr. R.?B. UTTING. The chief exceptions are thirteen admirable woodcuts of Scottish Seals, all of them good illustrations of Heraldry south of the Tweed, originally engraved for Laing's noble quarto upon "The Ancient Seals of Scotland," published in Edinburgh. Scottish Heraldry, I?must add, as in any particulars of law and practice it may differ from our Heraldry on this side of the Tweed, I?have left in the able hands of the Heralds of the North: at the same time, however, the Heraldry of which I have been treating has so much that is equally at home on either side of "the Border," that I have never hesitated to look for my examples and authorities to both the fair realms which now form one Great Britain.
C. B.
[Signature]

CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE TO PRESENT EDITION vii
AUTHOR'S PREFACE ix
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix
CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY-- Early Popularity of Heraldry in England-- Origin of English Heraldry; Definition; Characteristics; Development; Early Uses; Not connected with Earlier Systems-- Ancient Heraldry-- Past and Present Treatment of the Subject 1
CHAPTER II
EARLY HERALDIC AUTHORITIES-- Seals; Monumental Effigies, &c.; Rolls of Arms, Official Heraldic Records, &c.-- Earliest Heraldic Shields and Banners-- Allusive Quality of Early Armory-- Attributed Arms 10
CHAPTER III
The English Heraldry that is now in existence-- First Debasement of Heraldry-- Later Debasement-- Revival of English Heraldry-- Heraldic Art 20
CHAPTER IV
GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY: Section I.-- Language-- Nomenclature-- Style and Forms of Expression-- Blazon-- The Shield: its Parts, Points, Divisions, Dividing Lines, Varieties of Form, and Heraldic Treatment 29
CHAPTER V
GRAMMAR OF HERALDRY: Section II.-- Tinctures: Metals, Colours, Furs-- Varied Fields-- Law of Tinctures-- Counter-changing--