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Fox's Ordinary of Arms (Original Bound Collection of Pen Drawings of Heraldic Arms), c. 1760-1800, England

Green 3/4 leather binding with green cloth-covered boards. Gilt lettering of "Fox's Ordinary of Arms" on spine. No date, circa 1790-1850. 9 1/4" x 11 1/2." Unpaginated, twenty-six pages (twenty-six of the fifty-two total pages have drawings; the rest are blank). Pages are clean and intact overall except for slight age toning, a stain limited to left margin on one of the front drawings, and the small occasional mark. Covers are clean and intact overall, but the spine has surface chipping, corners are worn, and there is overall slight wear and moderate rubbing on front and back. Binding is tight. A Very Good copy. An intriguing and unique bound collection of pen drawings depicting English heraldic arms. A roll or register of arms as presented in this manner is also known as an ordinary of arms. The purpose of an ordinary of arms is to be used as a reference in identifying coats of arms as grouped by similar design. Some ordinary of arms also include blazons or written text describing the coats of arms. "Ordinary" also refers to a simple geometric shape, such as a chevron or bend (diagonal stripe), depicted on the field (background) of a shield in a coat of arms. About one-third of the drawings have an associated house or family name. Among the family names included herein are Mortimer of Attilbergh [fleur-de-lis], Fitz-Alan of Bodall (FitzAlan of Bedale?) [multiple horizontal stripes], Clavering [bend over a quadrant], Moschimes [lion], Stafford [chevron], Vesci [cross], and Louch of Mortimor (Mortimer?) [half-finished drawing with multiple circles]. Many of the drawings have no associated house name. Among the designs with no family name are a fess (horizontal stripe at center) with six birds, a fess with six rectangular prisms, a fess with six crosses (has the name, "Barrs," but is not inked in like the other family names), a chief (horizontal stripe at top) with two stars also at top (this design is repeated on four pages with four coats of arms per page), and a star on a solid background (this design is repeated in slight variation on four pages with four coats of arms per page). There is one last design, a chevron with three stars, that is repeated in slight variation on six pages with four coats of arms per page; some of the variations have associated family names while others do not. The drawings that are repeated may have been practice drawings so that the artist could refine their craft or create more detailed versions later. The following information relates to the provenance and possible dates of this book. A bookbinder's ticket is tipped in on front pastedown that reads in printed text, "Bretherton, ligavit 1850." This ticket was used by George James Bretherton (1820-1895) when he was working as a bookbinder for the manuscript collector, Sir Thomas Phillipps (1792-1872), in the mid-nineteenth century. The watermark, "JB 1838," appears on the front and back pastedowns. The watermark, "LVC," appears on some of the interior pages. The "LVC" watermark was commonly used on maps and documents produced during the period of c. 1760-1800. There are a few former owners' annotations on the front pastedown and first page. A pencil annotation on the first page identifies this collection only as the "Fox heraldic collection." Other annotations denote this book as formerly being item No. 4354-1 in the Phillipps Catalog of Manuscripts.. Manuscript. Book Condition: Collectible-Very Good. Binding: Hardcover

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