Lot 216
Manuscript armorial of Scottish peers, c. 1640
Rare Books, Maps and Manuscripts
Auction: 29 August 2012 at 12:00 BST
Description
Manuscript on paper, 125 hand-coloured coats of arms, on pro-forma engravings, produced by the English College of Heralds, for Englishmen given a Scottish title, c. 1640, contemporary leather binding, probably English, bookplate of Alexander Deuchar, 19th century herald painter, striped blue and white endpapers decorated in silvered floral designs, neatly rebacked and edges neatly repaired
Footnote
Provenance: Viscount Strathallan, Stobhall, Perthshire
Note: The book is one of a class of armorials produced by the English College of Heralds in the regins of James VI and Charles I, and aimed probably at the Englishmen - of whom there was a handful - who were given a Scottish title. One of these was Thomas Fairfax, 1st Baron Fairfax of Cameron. The signatures on entries 64 and 106 are probably those of Charles Fairfax, Thomas's son, and a noted antiquary and heraldist.
It is not known who the herald was who produced the book. It is done on pro-forma engravings, which were quite common for this sort of purpose from the 17th to 19th centuries, and was created between 1633 (when Douglas becomes a Marquess) and 1641 (when Argyll becomes a Marquess). The book was probably compiled on single sheets and then bound.
The book belonged in the 19th century to Alexander Deuchar, the well-known herald painter. His bookplate is inside the front cover, and the curious endpapers are characteristic of books from his library.