English Heraldic Book-stamps

The coats-of-arms and crests which are figured and described in the following pages do not exhaust the number of stamps of this kind that must exist on bookbindings throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland. Perhaps some day I shall go on my travels and search for unrecorded coats, but the present collection, even if it should prove to have been only a first instalment, will not easily be equalled in interest.Little attention has been hitherto paid to English coats-of-arms outside books. For French coats of the same kind an excellent and comprehensive handbook has been compiled by M. J. Guigard, Nouvel Armorial du Bibliophile, Paris, 1890.Two short papers have already been written about my present subject, and both of these are illustrated with drawings by myself. The earlier paper is by Mr. W. Y. Fletcher, and appeared in vol. iii. of Bibliographica in 1897; it is called "English Armorial Book-Stamps and their Owners." The second paper is by Mr. A. W. Pollard, and appeared in The Library of April 1902; it is called "The Franks Collection of Armorial Book-Stamps." The drawings I made for these two papers were carefully drawn exactly as the stamps were cut, and consequently look very black; in my newer drawings, however, I have in many cases only given the outlines of supporters, crests, helmets, and accessories generally, the effect of which is less heavy and equally useful for identification.