Dictionary of British Arms

This volume is the third of a projected four-volume Medieval Ordinary, an Ordinary being a collection of arms arranged alphabetically according to their designs, as opposed to an armory which is arranged alphabetically by surname. This Ordinary covers the period from the beginnings of heraldry in the twelfth century to 1530, the end of the medieval period for English and Welsh heraldic chronology, which is when the county surveys known as Heralds' Visitations began. The Dictionary follows the principles of exact description laid down by Papworth in 1874, and this work is essentially a new edition of Papworth's Ordinary. This volume covers arms whose descriptions fall alphabetically between Chief and Fess including Cross and Escutcheon.