British Armorial

  • Reference
    • GB 133 Eng MS 14
  • Dates of Creation
    • 18th Century [Possibly 1726]
  • Name of Creator
  • Language of Material
    • English
  • Physical Description
    • Extent of unit of description: 320 x 205 mm.  1 volume (79 folios); Binding: full-bound in vellum over boards.
  • Location
    • Collection available at John Rylands Library, Deansgate.

Scope and Content

The armorial contains emblazoned coats of arms of English, Scottish and Irish peers and bishops. Two indexes, one an alphabetical index of surnames and the other an index of titles, were added at a later date at the beginning of the volume. At the top of the first folio of the manuscript after the two indexes is written the date 1726, perhaps indicating that this was the year of creation. A label on the front cover is annotated '157 Pages of Coats of Arms Blazoned with an Index'.

Access Information

The manuscript is available for consultation by any accredited reader.

Acquisition Information

Purchased by Mrs Enriqueta Rylands, on behalf of the John Rylands Library, in 1901 from James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford.

Note

Description compiled by Henry Sullivan, project archivist, with reference to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article on John Thane.

Other Finding Aids

Catalogued in the Hand-List of the Collection of English Manuscripts in the John Rylands Library, 1928 (English MS 14).

Custodial History

Formerly part of the Bibliotheca Lindesiana, the Library of the Earls of Crawford and Balcarres, from Haigh Hall, Wigan, Lancashire. The signature of John Thane is written on the verso of the last folio of the manuscript. John Thane (1748-1818) was a London printseller and engraver who also had antiquarian interests.