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Harley MS 1365

Record Id:

040-002047194

Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:

040-002047194

MDARK:

ark:/81055/vdc_100000000652.0x000367

LARK:

SLARK:

Format:

ISAD(G)

Reference (shelfmark):

Harley MS 1365

Title:

A collection of Alphabets of Arms in blazon

Scope & Content:

Contents:

f. 1*recto: A blazon of the arms of 'Laurence Breterghe of Bretegheholt' in French heraldic terminology.

ff. 1r-21v: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology), including English families and attributed arms such as those of of King Arthur, Godfrey of Bouillon, and St Alban.

ff. 22v-34r: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families, with a 'sprinkling of Irish among them' (see Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, II (1808), p. 16)

ff. 34v-73r: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families.

ff. 73v-105v: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon o(French heraldic terminology) of English families.

ff. 106r-120r: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families.

ff. 121r-150v: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families

ff. 151v-152v: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families bearing Piles.

ff. 153r-154v: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families bearing Gyrons.

ff. 155v-168r: An Alphabet of Arms in blazon (French heraldic terminology) of English families bearing Barres; imperfect, breaking off in the letter 'P'.

The manuscript contains various additions:

f. 1*recto (paper pastedown): A note on the manuscript by Humfrey Wanley (b. 1672, d. 1726), Keeper of the Harleian Library: 'I have seen with Mr Sheers a book written like this by Thomas Chaloner'; referring to William Shires, a Painter-Stainer of Southwark (as described by Wanley in his entry in Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts, II (1808), p. 16).

f. 1*recto (paper pastedown): A note in English: '[...] of paper in this book Blasons of severall names in toto a 3817'; added in the late 16th or early 17th century.

f. 1*verso: The arms of William Grafton, painted in colours; added in the 17th century.

f. 51*recto: A blazon of the arms of Holloway in French heraldic terminology; added in the 17th century.

Collection Area:

Western Manuscripts

Project / Collection:

Harley Collection

Hierarchy Tree:

[{ "id" : "040-002047194", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 1365: A collection of Alphabets of Arms in blazon" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]

Hierarchy Record Ids:

032-002045828
040-002047194

Is part of:

Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts

Harley MS 1365 : A collection of Alphabets of Arms in blazon

Hierarchy:

032-002045828[1365]/040-002047194

Container:

View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661

Record Type (Level):

File

Extent:

1 volume

Digitised Content:

Languages:

English
French

Scripts:

Latin

Start Date:

1550

End Date:

1599

Date Range:

2nd half of the 16th century

Era:

Access:

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User Conditions:

Physical Characteristics:

Materials: Paper.

Dimensions: 195 x 135 mm (text space: approximately 150 x 110 mm).

Foliation: ff. 1* + 51* + 168 (+ 2 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end); 1 unfoliated paper pastedown on f. 1*recto; f. 1* is a paper leaf; f. 51* is an inserted strip of paper; paper tabs with letters of the alphabet on ff. 1, 22, 35, 74, 121, 155; original foliation throughout the manuscript in black ink, and modern foliation added to ff. 90-168 (where the original foliation jumps to '100') in pencil. The modern foliation is followed here.

Script: 16th-century script.

Binding: Post-1600. Marbled paper boards.

Custodial History:

Origin:

England.

Provenance:

Thomas Chaloner (d. 1598), of Bridge Street, Chester, painter, poet, antiquary, actor, compiled the manuscript: see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), pp. 100-01.

'W[illiam] Grafton', owned in the 17th century: his name inscribed on f. 1*recto and f. 1r, and his arms painted on f. 1*verso (see Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 169); probably the same William Grafton who inscribed his name and added his coat of arms (per saltire sable and ermine, a lion rampant or, armed and langued gules) to a copy of John Ferne's The blazon of gentry (London: John Windet for Andrew Maunsell, 1586), now 'STC 10825 Copy 2' at Washington, the Folger Shakespeare Library.

John Spicer (fl. 1680s): according to Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 311.

The Harley Collection, formed by Robert Harley (b. 1661, d. 1724), 1st earl of Oxford and Mortimer, politician, and Edward Harley (b. 1689, d. 1741), 2nd earl of Oxford and Mortimer, book collector and patron of the arts.

Edward Harley bequeathed the library to his widow, Henrietta Cavendish, née Holles (b. 1694, d. 1755) during her lifetime and thereafter to their daughter, Margaret Cavendish Bentinck (b. 1715, d.1785), duchess of Portland; the manuscripts were sold by the Countess and the Duchess in 1753 to the nation for £10,000 (a fraction of their contemporary value) under the Act of Parliament that also established the British Museum; the Harley manuscripts form one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Publications:

A Catalogue of the Harleian Manuscripts in the British Museum, 4 vols (London: Eyre and Strahan, 1808-12), II (1808), p. 16.

Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), pp. 100-01, 169, 311.

Material Type:

Archives and Manuscripts

Legal Status:

Not Public Record(s)

Places:

England