APPEALING ARMORIALS
[HERALDRY.]
Manuscripts relating to Low Countries nobility.
[Low Countries, mid-17th century?].
Three manuscripts on paper (watermark with ‘CC’ monogram), in French, Dutch and Latin, folio (33 x 22 cm). I: ff. [18], with 151 hand-drawn and coloured banners and coats of arms and 103 helms and crests in ink, some pasted in on slips, several heraldic descriptions in French of the helms in brown ink. II: ff. [16], with 75 hand-drawn and coloured banners of arms and 27 helms and crests in ink, a few with accompanying notes in the same hand as I, several blank banners, 2 pp. of hand-drawn arms and 3 pp. with printed hand-coloured arms pasted thereon loosely inserted. III: ff. [29], neatly written in brown ink in the same hand as I and II, up to 50 lines per page, with some additional notes in a second hand. A little wear to corners and edges, occasional marks; overall very well preserved; each vol. unbound, stitched at head and foot of spines.
A fine set of manuscripts relating to Low Countries heraldry and history compiled by a learned local antiquary.
The first two volumes contain 226 neatly drawn and coloured arms, mostly in the form of banners, together with 130 associated crested helms drawn in brown ink, with accompanying text providing occasional heraldic descriptions. The delightful donkey-crested helm of ‘Boutersheym’ (Boutersem) is, for example, described thus: ‘teste d’asne de sable le museau coupé et oreilles avec la langue dargent’. Some handsome pasted-in full heraldic achievements are also included.
The third volume comprises a copy of a 1588 inventory in Dutch and French of documents in the archives of the dukes and duchesses of Brabant. It summarises privileges, letters, confirmations, vidimuses etc., providing a wealth of information on the history of Brabant from the twelfth to the sixteenth century.
