Penn in Hand: Selected Manuscripts

The names and armes of all the nobilitie who were in England at the tyme of K[ing] W[illia]m the Conqueror [manuscript].

[England], 1597.

96 leaves : paper ; 285 x 186 (239 x 174) mm. bound to 298 x 207 mm.

Coats of arms, some painted and some drawn in ink, for the monarchs and nobles of England from Edward the Confessor to Elizabeth I, accompanied by names, titles, descriptions of the coats of arms, and sometimes short biographies. Sections for each monarch include the principal nobility who held titles or were given titles during the reign of that monarch. A contemporary index divides the names of the individuals included according to their first letter but then lists the names beginning with each letter in order of appearance (f. 88-90). Two smaller pages of notes perhaps associated with the compilation of this manuscript, one concerning the heirs of Richard Woodvile, Earl of Rivers, including the Lords of Stanley, and the other on financial holdings and properties of various families, are tipped in (f. 92v, f. 93v).

Ms. codex.

Title from opening rubric (f. 1r).

Foliation: Paper, 96; ii (modern paper) + iv (contemporary ruled paper) + 84, [85-94] + ii (modern paper); contemporary foliation in ink, upper right recto; modern foliation in pencil, lower right recto.

Layout: Ruled in brown and red ink for a wide inner column for text and a narrower outer column for illustration; running heads at the top of the text column follow the progression of monarchs.

Script: Written in a late Elizabethan secretary script, with a larger calligraphic script used for the names of monarchs.

Decoration: 509 coats of arms (307 painted, 164 drawn in ink, 38 blank); one large calligraphic initial (f. 1r).

Watermark: Briquet 12772, Pot à une anse (Amiens, 1598).

Binding: 20th-century half leather with leather label for title on upper cover, Heraldic manuscript, 1597.

Origin: Written in England in 1597.

UPenn Ms. Codex 1071

Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts University of Pennsylvania Ms. Codex 1071