This book is an attempt to place before designers and craftsmen such an account of the principles of the art of Heraldry as will enable them to work out for themselves the many and various applications of it that are possible to-day. To that end the different usages which have prevailed from time to time are dealt with in detail, and are illustrated as far as may be from ancient sources. Should it be thought that undue stress has been laid upon the pre-Tudor heraldry, to the comparative exclusion of that of later times, it may be pointed out that until the principles of the earlier heraldry have been grasped and appreciated, it is impossible to get rid of the cast-iron uniformity and stupid rules that bound the heraldry of to-day, and tend to strangle all attempts to raise it to a higher level. To what extent these chilling ideas prevail, and how necessary it is to get rid of them, cannot better be illustrated than by two letters written to the author, after most of the following chapters were in type, by a critical friend who has not read any of them. He points out in his first letter that on the very day of his writing there had been brought to his He instances the case of a sculptor who had been supplied with a drawing, 'brilliant in emerald green and powder blue,' of the arms that had been granted to a famous Englishman whose memory was about to be honoured by the setting up of a statue with his arms, etc. carved upon the pedestal. The arms in the drawing did not present any difficulties, but the crest was not shown upon the helm, and the whole was surrounded by a series of trophies which to this unenlightened sculptor were as heraldic as the arms and crest. Out of all this, asked the sculptor, what could lawfully be omitted? If any of the trophies were supporters, must they be shown? And must the crest be used? Ought the crest to be on a helm? And should the helm be shown in profile or full-faced? The contents of the drawing, if all were sculptured, would, in my friend's opinion, 'either come so small as to be unmonumental, or so large as to dwarf the statue into a doll.' It will be seen from the principles enunciated in the present work that the answers to the foregoing questions were obviously as follows: I. That the sculptor might use the arms alone if he thought fit, and he might vary the shape and size of the shield according to his fancy. II. That he could omit the crest if he wished, but if he elected to use it, the crest ought certainly to be set upon a helm, which should face the same way as the crest; the crested helm might also be flourished about with such mantling as the sculptor thought proper. III. That in the particular drawing none of the trophies was heraldic. The sculptor accordingly could omit the whole, if he were so minded, or could dispose about the arms and crested helm any such other trophies of like character as would in his judgment look well or be appropriate. In a further letter my friend enumerates other difficulties that vex poor artists. Must a shield always be surmounted by a crested helm? Should the helm face any special way according to the degree of the bearer thereof? What are the ordinary relative proportions which helm and crest should bear to the shield? May a shield be set aslant as well as upright? Should a torse be drawn with a curved or a straight line? Is it necessary to represent the engraved dots and lines indicative of the tinctures? What are supporters to stand upon? Are they to plant their feet on a ribbon or scroll, or on a flowering mound, or what? May arms entitled to have supporters be represented without them? What are the simplest elements to which a shield of arms may be reduced?—as, for example, in a panel some 60 or 70 feet above the eye, and when but a small space is available. To a craftsman or designer who has grasped the principles of heraldry these further questions will present no difficulty, and most of them can be These illustrations, it will be seen, are largely selected from heraldic seals, and for the particular reason that seals illustrate so admirably and in a small compass such a number of those usages to which appeal may confidently be made. Examples of heraldry in conjunction with buildings, monuments, and architectural features generally, have also been given, and its application to the minor arts has not been overlooked. In order, too, to enable full advantage to be taken of the long period covered by the illustrations, the most typical of these have been collected into a chronological series at the end of the book. It is thus possible to show the gradual rise and decline of heraldic art from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century, beyond which it is hardly necessary to go. The only modern illustrations that have been tolerated are those showing the formation of the Union Jack, and the degraded condition of the so-called Royal Standard. The coloured frontispiece is an attempt to show a more effective way of displaying with equal heraldic 'correctness' the arms of our Sovereign Lord King George the Fifth. W. H. ST. JOHN HOPE My thanks are due to the Society of Antiquaries of London for leave to reproduce the coloured illustrations in pls. I and II, for the loan of blocks or drawings of figs. 7, 13, 33, 64, 65, 101, 129, 153, 186, 187, 190, and 193, and for leave to photograph the I wish also to thank, among others, Mr. David Weller, head verger of Westminster Abbey, for leave to reproduce the photographs shown in figs. 1, 2, 4, 34, 40, 87, 104, 110, 134, 156, 176, 194, 195; Mr. T. W. Phillips, of Wells, for those forming figs. 23 and 111; Mr. Charles Goulding, of Beverley, for those forming figs. 49, 50; Mr. T. Palmer Clarke, of Cambridge, for those forming figs. 88, 96, 128, 170, 171, and 172; and Mr. Fred Spalding, of Chelmsford, for the photograph of the New Hall panel in fig. 189. |