‘Crests Monograms &c.’

Album of crests, monograms and other decorative armorial devices laid down on 84 vellum leaves, with elaborate hand-drawn and coloured borders, many pages with facing keys on the versos; 4to (190 x 150mm); attractively bound in contemporary full red morocco gilt, 'Crests, Monograms &c.' within a garland, gilt edges, gold metal clasp (engraved 'Barritt & Co.'); clasp pulls away from lower board but is otherwise firm and intact, extremities very lightly rubbed; modern hand-drawn armorial book label of Paul Blaise Rooney A very colourful Victorian album of cut-and-pasted crests, monograms and insignia representing a huge array of institutions, bodies and private individuals. Mostly organised according to type, with cleverly designed facing key diagrams, here are represented royalty and aristocracy, country and town houses, regiments and military bodies, constituent colleges of Oxford and Cambridge as well as other educational institutions, museums, clubs and societies. The first page is devoted entirely to a calligraphic rendering of the name Helen, which is the only clue to its compiler. While this kind of taxonomical project was not uncommon in the middle decades of the nineteenth century, what sets this album apart is the flare and care that has gone into the design; immaculately rendered and highly decorative foliate, scrolled and geometric borders appear throughout, many of the crests are presented in cartouches of various kinds, and various themes elaborated through the design, such as handsomely drawn figures of mounted and foot-soldiers for the military examples. A fine example of this type of album and a fascinating snapshot of mid nineteenth-century society.