Books, Pattern/Coloring Books,
and Games

Look for our selection of gently used and remaindered heraldry books for sale here.

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The Gore Roll: An Early American Roll of Arms. The Gore roll of arms was created in Boston, Massachusetts in the mid-18th Century. While a number of articles have been published about it in the past, the articles most easily and inexpensively available contain many errors, and those which are error-free are either difficult to find or expensive. And none of them have illustrations of the coats of arms contained in the roll. This volume offers the most complete history and analysis of this unique American roll of arms ever published. It contains the complete printed review by William A. Whitmore in 1865 and the complete printed review by Dr. Harold Bowditch of the Committee on Heraldry of the New England Historic Genealogical Society in the 1930s, as well as additional research by the author, along with new line drawings of all of the coats of arms contained in the roll, as well as illustrations of many of the arms from other sources, some contemporary with the roll. A .pdf file with several pages from the book may be found here. (Never heard of the Gore roll? Want to know more about it before buying the book? A paper presented on the Gore roll by the author at the International Congress of Genealogical and Heraldic Sciences held in Bruges, Belgium in 2004 may be found here.) (226 pp.) (Hardbound) (Item #BK06) ISBN 978-0-9801366-2-3 ($50.00)
The Boke of St. Albans, by Dame Juliana Berners, was originally published in 1486. Consisting of three parts, it contains the first treatise on heraldry published in English. (Prior works on the subject were generally published in Latin.) It was thought so important a work that the heraldry portions were reprinted in James Dallaway's Inquiries into the Origin and Progress of the Science of Heraldry in England, published in 1793. It was the text of this reprint which we have used for our modern English rendition, in the hopes of making this seminal work more widely available to the modern reader with an interest in heraldry. We have, additionally, created new illustrations of the arms described in the Boke, which were not included in the reprint in Dallaway.

The arrangement used in this modern rendition is a two-column one, with the text from Dallaway appearing in the left-hand column, and the modern English version in the right-hand one, so that the reader may compare the texts. A .pdf file with several pages from the color version of the book may be found here.

Three versions of this rendition of the Boke of St. Albans are available: one with black and white line drawings of the coats of arms described, one with color drawings of the arms described (which necessarily costs more to reproduce), and an electronic version on CD-ROM which includes the color drawings of the arms.

The Boke of St. Albans (black and white edition). A sample page of the color version is shown in the left panel. The black and white edition uses monochrome line drawings instead of color ones of the coats of arms described in the text. (68 pp.) (Card cover) ISBN 978-0-9801366-0-9 (Item No.BK01) ($15.00)
The Boke of St. Albans (color edition). A sample page is shown in the left panel. This edition uses color drawings instead of monochrome line drawings for the coats of arms described in the text. (68 pp.) (Card cover) ISBN 978-0-9801366-1-6 (Item No. BK02) ($30.00)
The Boke of St. Albans (CD-ROM). This is a .pdf file of the color edition. Such files required Adobe Acrobat or Acrobat Reader to view. If you do not have Acrobat, the CD-ROM comes with Acrobat Reader for Windows. Other versions of the Acrobat Reader, including for Mac, can be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com. (Item No. CD03) ($10.00)
Camels In Heraldry, an extensive survey of the use of camels in armory, as charges on the shield, as crests, and as supporters. Includes a brief natural history of camels, their use as a symbol, and their use in heraldry. Contains an armorial of arms, badges, crests, and supporters which use camels, as well as a number of pictures of the same. A .pdf file with several pages from each section of the book may be found here. (58 pp., incl. 14 pp. of color plates) (Card cover) (Item No. BK07) ISBN 978-0-9801366-3-0 ($30.00)
Virgil Solis' Wappenbüchlein, or Heraldry Booklet, was originally printed in Nuremberg in 1555. Virgil Solis, a contemporary of Albrecht Dürer, was an engraver of some skill, as this facsimile reproduction of his work clearly demonstrates. It is in the form of a roll of arms, and includes, among others, the arms of the Papacy and many of the princes of the Church, most of the kingdoms of Europe and a number of fictional, attributed arms of kingdoms in Africa and Asia, as well as the "first three coats of arms in the world" and the arms of the Three Wise Men. A .pdf file with several pages from the book may be found here. (51 pp.) (Card cover) (Item No. BK03)
The Grund-Saeze der Wappenkunst, or Basic Principles of Heraldic Art, is a German manual of heraldry by noted heraldic author Otto Titan von Hefner, published here in a facsimile edition. It is a brief overview (in German) of the development of heraldry going well back into the Middle Ages, describing many of the charges used, along with fourteen plates of illustrations. A .pdf file with several pages from the book may be found here. (50 pp. plus 14 plates) (Card cover) (Item BK04) ($15.00)

Our Heraldry Books CD-ROM includes electronic (.pdf format) copies of the color version of the Boke of St. Albans, Virgil Solis' Wappenbüchlein, and the Grund-Saeze der Wappenkunst, along with the Adobe Acrobat Reader (Windows version; other versions, including Mac, may be downloaded for free from www.adobe.com) on a single space- and money-saving CD. (Item CD04) ($20.00)
The Camel Expectorant: Ruminations of an S.C.A. Herald, a collection of odds and ends written by a former Laurel King of Arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism. This volume includes commentary on various submissions, especially in the speciality areas of Arabic names and Middle Eastern heraldic charges; some essays on topics relating to SCA heraldry; the results of research into alternate blazoning schemes for the heraldic tinctures (it's a lot more than just planets and gemstones); adaptations of period and post-period texts for SCA scrolls; Da'ud Bob ibn Briggs (see here for more information) and the SCA College of Arms; some of our favorite heraldic quotes from a variety of sources; and "Stupid Herald Tricks", a selection of heraldic cartoons and jokes. (142 pp.) (Card cover) (Item BK05) ($20.00)
Index to the Proceedings of the Known World Heraldic Symposia: 1973-2012. This index contains a complete listing of the articles contained in each of the annual heraldic and scribal symposia held by the Society for Creative Anachronism. These proceedings are indexed by year, by subject, and by author, making it easy to find any particular article. Three-hole punched for easy insertion into a binder. (50 pp.) (Item No. KW01) ($5.00)





The following are pattern/coloring booklets with heraldic charges and coats of arms, most centered around a specific theme or set of coats of arms. Originally conceived as coloring books, they also work well as pattern books, consisting as they do of black and white line drawings of the charges and coats of arms. Where the arms depicted in the booklet are specific arms, color versions of the arms appear inside the back cover as a guide.

The pattern/coloring books currently available are:
An Heraldic Charges Coloring Book. Twenty-seven different standard heraldic charges in shields, from castle to eagle displayed, from lion rampant to sea-lion to unicorn, thistle, rose, escallop, cross bottony, and even escarbuncle. A sample page is shown at left. (Item No. CB 01) ($5.00)
The Nine Worthies and Nine Female Worthies Coloring Book. The Nine Worthies were three Jews (Joshua, David, Judas Maccabbeus), three pagans (Hector, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar), and three Christians (King Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon) whose works and deeds were deemed worthy of emulation by those living in the late Middle Ages. During the Renaissance, lists of Nine Female Worthies were developed to match the Nine Male Worthies. This booklet consists of the coats of arms attributed to each individual of each group of nine, with more background on the lists and a brief description of each individual are included. A sample page (Joshua) is shown at left. (Item No. CB 04) ($5.00)
An S.C.A. Coloring Book. The arms of the Society for Creative Anachronism, its member kingdoms (in the order of their creation), and its corporate offices. A sample page (the Kingdom of Atenveldt) is shown at left. (Item No. CB 02) ($5.00)
An Ansteorran Coloring Book. The arms of the King and Queen of the S.C.A. Kingdom of Ansteorra, with the arms of its member Baronies (in the order of their creation). A sample page (the Barony of Bryn Gwlad) is shown at left. (Item No. CB 03) ($5.00)





Games
Heraldic Bingo. As fun to play (and works the same) as regular bingo, but with a twist! Instead of numbers, there are five categories of heraldic elements: Tinctures (including furs); Lines of Division; Ordinaries and Subordinaries; Beasts, Birds and Monsters; and Other Common Charges. This set comes complete with thirty different Bingo cards for the players, a set of 75 smaller cards which are shuffled and used as the "balls" by the caller, and a booklet with a brief history of the game (which originated in Italy in the 1500's) and rules for playing. An entertaining way to learn (or refresh your memory of) heraldic blazon terms. (Item No. GH01) ($20.00)





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