Excerpt from English Heraldic Book-Stamps: Figured and Described The large majority of the stamps illustrated herewith are' in the British Museum, but I have included a few in private ownership, and to these owners my sincere thanks are due for their kindness in allowing me to copy the various coats. I have in every case mentioned this private ownership, and where such mention is not found the book from which the drawing has been made is in the British Museum, either in the Department of Printed Books or in the Department of Manuscripts. Heraldry is of military origin, but its decorative side, and the various exact rules which govern it, were probably brought into use during the Middle Ages, in connection with the frequent Tournaments which were governed by strict rules. The ceremonies to be followed at the Tournaments were very closely laid down heralds as well as their assistants of all sorts came into much prominence, and personal insignia acquired an importance they have never had since. Even now there are a few signs of ancient personal heraldry existing in our army; crests and tartans of private families may be found among the Highland regiments, but the modern tendency, especially since the late war in South Africa, has been to abolish such peculiarities. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.