Description
Harleian Society’s Publications
This is a compilation of about 3,200 mottoes used in England and Wales before 1700. The author is Dr Michael Siddons. Over many years he has transcribed mottoes from a wide variety of sources such as the Heralds’ Visitations, grants of arms, seals, portraits, monuments, flags and inscriptions in books. Many are in English, Latin or French, a number in Italian, Spanish and Welsh, and a handful in Greek, Dutch, Cornish, Hebrew, Middle English and Norse. By citing a source for each motto, Dr Siddons has remedied a deficiency in the standard publications, which in most instances merely attribute a motto to a family name. This volume describes the context in which the mottoes have been found, often dating the source and identifying the user.
