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A new edition with full discussion and
commentary by Alex Maxwell Findlater
A photographic facsimile edition of The
Armorial of Sir David Lyndsay of the Mount (1532x46) will be published
by subscription this year.
As well as a poet and playwright, Lyndsay was
the Lyon King of Arms, ie the chief herald in Scotland.
He had also been the Usher of the Prince, and when James IV died at Flodden,
he remained as Usher to the infant King James V, whose character and
interests were shaped partly by Lyndsay, who perforce took on the role of
father figure. The Armorial was probably prepared as a livre d’or, to
be carried to European courts by Lyndsay himself and by other ambassadors.
Lyndsay’s heraldic legacy is very important. Indeed the Armorial is one of
the jewels of the National Library of Scotland; being what is called a ‘safe
manuscript’, it has to be locked up every night.
The Armorial is the first comprehensive
record of the Scottish corpus of arms, ie the
significant families which made up the nation. A considerable number of arms
of old are included which gives historic depth. The Armorial, though
by no means complete, provides a picture of the Scottish polity in the reign
of James V: these are King James’ people as recorded by perhaps his closest
associate.
The book will be in A4 format, because that
is the approximate size of the original, a large quarto. The Armorial itself
is of 130 folios, so 260 pages, and with introductory essays and appendices
of 120 pages and commentary of some 400 pages, plus the normal apparatus,
making a total of some 800 pages, which will be published in two volumes in
the autumn of this year, 2018. Two lithographic facsimiles of The
Armorial were published in the 19th century; that of 1822 is
quite unobtainable, while that of 1878 does come up for sale perhaps once in
a decade, and has been scanned and reprinted. However neither of these has
any critical apparatus, and this is sorely needed.
The author has written two earlier books, Aspilogia
Scoticana (2006), a catalogue raisonné of medieval Scottish rolls of
arms, and Lord Crawford’s Armorial (2008), which is a critical
edition of that armorial of 1601/03. As substantial grant support has been
obtained, the book will be very favourably priced at £49 and for Society
members at £44. The book will be published by subscription, so that the
names of subscribers are included. Now is the time to subscribe.
Only post-nominals relevant to Crown or
State honours will be included after the names in the list of Subscribers.
If you wish to buy it, but do not wish your name to be included in the list
of Subscribers or if you have any problem, please advise the author on alex@findlater.org.uk .
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Subscriptions will close
on Monday 20th August 2018.
Prices: Members £44, non-members £49:
these prices do not include postage and packing so the
volumes will have to be collected, normally in Edinburgh, by
arrangement.
Prices inclusive of postage
and packing (and VAT on this where appropriate) |
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Resident in:
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Members
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Non-Members
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UK
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£66
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£71
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Europe
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£84
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£89
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Rest of World
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£94
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£99
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