Descriptive Summary
Administrative Information
Access Points
Biography
Scope and Content
Descriptive Summary
Title: Catalogue of British Heraldry,
Date (inclusive): c1750-1850
Collection number: Mss224
Creator:
Extent: 0.25 linear ft.
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections
Shelf location: For current information on the location of
these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Language: English.
Administrative Information
Access
Collection is open for research.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Catalogue of British Heraldry, Mss224,
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections, University of the Pacific
Library
Access Points
personal name
Sharpe, Thomas
personal name
Sharpe, William
subject
Heraldry -Great Britain
subject
Genealogy
Biography
Little is known about this album of pen and ink drawings of heraldic
emblems. A book plate inside the cover bears the name "Thomas Sharpe." The name
"W. Sharpe" is stamped at the top of the first page and, although it is
tempting to ascribe the book to the noted antiquary Thomas Sharp (1770-1841) or
to the even more famous engraver, William Sharp (1749-1824), one must observe
that neither of these gentlemen spelled his name with the final "e." The style
of calligraphy employed in the freehand drawings found in the album seems
typical of that used between 1750 and 1850. Certain spelling errors ("feild"
for "field," for instance) indicate that the author was probably a person of
modest education. The layout of the album suggests that it might have been used
as a sourcebook by an engraver, artisan or weaver employed regularly on
bookplate commissions, paintings, hangings, carpetry, or the like.
Scope and Content
Catalogue of British Heraldry consists of sixty-one numbered pages of
pen and ink drawings of coats of arms followed by a surname index, probably
executed in the late 18th or early 19th century.