Under the sponsorship of The Bibliographical Society of London in conjunction with the University of Toronto Library, the British Armorial Binding database brings to fruition almost half a century of endeavour. Its purpose is to create a comprehensive catalogue of all the coats of arms, crests, and other heraldic devices that have been stamped by British owners on the outer covers of their books, together with the bibliographical sources of the stamps.
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The database has been designed primarily for those with little or no knowledge of heraldry. To this end a simplified version of heraldic language has been employed to describe the elements that constitute a heraldic achievement. With a little practice the uninitiated researcher should be able to master the basic rules and language of heraldry, and through the comprehensive series of indexes, ascertain the owner of a particular stamp quickly and efficiently.
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In its present state the database should be regarded as a work in progress; publication merely marks the end of the first phase in its development. In the next phase a heraldic introduction, a history of the project, and a history of British armorial binding stamps will be appended to the database. In instances where the quality of particular stamps is inferior, they will be replaced by better examples as they are acquired.
About Gary Price
