GENEALOGY & HERALDRY – GUILLIM, John (c.1565-1621). A Display of Heraldrie. London: Thomas Cotes for Jacob Blome, 1638.

Vividly hand-colored copy of this popular work on English heraldry. Third edition. John Guillim of Minsterworth, Gloucestershire, was an antiquarian and officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. He is best remembered for this monumental work on heraldry, first published in 1610. Apart from the numerous smaller signs, there are nine sheets at the end, namely those of the British high nobility. ESTC S120342.

Folio (298 x 190mm). C.700 heraldic devices, all vividly hand-colored (dampstains on the first few leaves, a little browned and spotted). Contemporary vellum (some soiling). Provenance: 18th-century ink annotations on front pastedown and flyleaf – Francis Higginson Cabot (1925-2011, American gardener and horticulturist; bookplate).