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Harley MS 1503
- Record Id:
- 040-002047333
- Hierarchy Root Ancestor Record Id:
- 040-002047333
- MDARK:
- ark:/81055/vdc_100000000709.0x00000a
- LARK:
- SLARK:
- Format:
- ISAD(G)
- Reference (shelfmark):
- Harley MS 1503
- Title:
-
Collection of coats of arms of English kings, earls, nobility and gentry, and kings of the world
- Scope & Content:
-
Contents:
ff. 2r-92v: Collection of coats of arms (16 per page) of English kings, earls, nobility and gentry; and kings of the world, among whom are many attributed arms such as those of Prester John.
The manuscript contains a later addition:
f. 1r: Coats of arms and ownership inscriptions of the Herbert family of York; added in the late 16th or early 17th century.
ff. 93r-101r: Alphabetical index of family names; added in the 17th century.
- Collection Area:
- Western Manuscripts
- Project / Collection:
- Harley Collection
- Hierarchy Tree:
- [{ "id" : "040-002047333", "parent" : "#", "text" : "Harley MS 1503: Collection of coats of arms of English kings, earls, nobility and gentry, and kings of the world" , "li_attr" : {"class": "orderable"} }]
- Hierarchy Record Ids:
- 032-002045828
040-002047333 - Is part of:
- Harley MS 1-7661 : Harley Manuscripts
Harley MS 1503 : Collection of coats of arms of English kings, earls, nobility and gentry, and kings of the world - Hierarchy:
- 032-002045828[1504]/040-002047333
- Container:
- View / search within Archive / Collection: Harley MS 1-7661
- Record Type (Level):
- File
- Extent:
- 1 volume
- Digitised Content:
- Languages:
- English
French
Latin
Welsh - Scripts:
- Latin
- Start Date:
- 1550
- End Date:
- 1599
- Date Range:
- 2nd half of the 16th century
- Era:
- CE
- Access:
-
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- User Conditions:
- Physical Characteristics:
-
Materials: Paper.
Dimensions: 390 x 265 mm.
Foliation: ff. 101 (+ 4 unfoliated paper flyleaves at the beginning + 3 at the end).
Script: 16th-century script.
Binding: British Museum in-house; gold-tooled brown leather with the Harleian arms gold stamped on the outside covers; gilt fore edges.
- Custodial History:
-
Origin:
? Northern England.
Provenance:
? Christopher Herbert (b. 1532, d. 1590) of York, Governor of the Merchants' Company (1572–1574) and Lord Mayor of York (1573-1574): perhaps his inscription on f. 1r: 'arma Ch. Herbert armigeri' with the Latin motto 'Nil sine Numine' ['Nothing without God's Will'], and a coat of arms with ten quarterings, among which are the arms that were officially granted to Sir Thomas Herbert (b. 1606, d. 1682), Christopher's great-grandson, in 1614; with the family's Welsh motto added by a later hand both on f. 1r and f. 1v: 'Pawb yn y arver' ['Everyone his own customs']; previously unidentified in Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 187, who transcribes the inscription as 'Eh. Herbert armig' and only attributes it to an unspecified 'Family of Herbert'. He may also be Christopher's grandson and namesake Christopher Herbert (b. 1583, d. 1624), father of the aforementioned Sir Thomas Herbert (b. 1606, d. 1682).
? Thomas Herbert (b. 1554, d. 1614), son of Christopher Herbert [above] and Elizabeth Hemsworth, merchant and Lord Mayor of York (1604-1605): his name inscribed at the top of f. 1r: 'Tho: Herbert'; previously unidentified. He may also be Thomas's grandson and namesake Sir Thomas Herbert (b. 1606, d. 1682), 1st Baronet of Tintern and York, traveller and author (but not listed as a possible owner under his entry in Wright, Fontes Harleiani (1972), p. 187, where he is only identified as an owner of Harley MS 7396).
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. 82.
Cyril Ernest Wright, Fontes Harleiani: A Study of the Sources of the Harleian Collection of Manuscripts in the British Museum (London: British Museum, 1972), p. 187.
- Material Type:
- Archives and Manuscripts
- Legal Status:
- Not Public Record(s)
- Places:
- England
Northern England