What are the “must have” Heraldic reference books?

General Heraldry subjects
Ryan Shuflin
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Location: Germany

Re: What are the “must have” Heraldic reference books?

Postby Ryan Shuflin » 28 May 2022, 18:42

Don't forget Siebmachers. :D

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Chris Green
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Location: Karlstad, Sweden

Re: What are the “must have” Heraldic reference books?

Postby Chris Green » 28 May 2022, 20:58

A while back I bought Shield & Crest by Julian Franklyn, originally published in 1960, reprinted in 2015 (ISBN 978-0-8063-0152-5).

I would place this in my list of "OK I've got it, but what possessed me?". The foreward (by no less than Colonel Archie White VC) describes it as a "useful and delightful book". As the Principal of the London City Literary Institute, Col White should have been a reliable guide. Regrettably, on this occasion, he wasn't.

Franklyn is long-winded, tedious and often irrelevant. On the face of it this book is addressed to newcomers to heraldry. But too often all sorts of obscure stuff crops up, much of which is of little interest even to the most hard-bitten heraldist (me :mrgreen:). There are no less than 465 illustrations, but most of them are in black and white, and lack any hatching, which Franklyn considers to be "nothing short of sacrilege" and "obtrusive" (although, weirdly, a plate with the various hatchings appears on virtually the last page, with no explanation). Some of them relate to the adjacent text, but often not, and one needs to have a permanent finger in the index to locate the relevant blazon. The plates are in black, white and two shades of gray. The original edition may of course have had colour plates, but if so the publishers of the latest reprint thought them an unnecessary expense.

If Franklyn thought that his book might supplant Boutell, he was much mistaken. I do NOT recommend this book to newcomers, nor to experienced heraldists with anything approaching a short fuse.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert

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Ton de Witte
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Re: What are the “must have” Heraldic reference books?

Postby Ton de Witte » 09 Apr 2023, 21:14

Chris, I own the 1960 edition and in that one most pictures are in colour. Complete pages with 12 arms in colour.
Ton de Witte
IAAH secretary

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Chris Green
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Re: What are the “must have” Heraldic reference books?

Postby Chris Green » 10 Apr 2023, 10:23

I suspected as much, Ton. The colour plates would make the first edition a much better bet than the 2015 reprint. But my comment: "Franklyn is long-winded, tedious and often irrelevant" would still be relevant.
Chris Green
IAAH President

Bertilak de Hautdesert


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