Johannes Baptiste Rietstap
The Armorial General series, described hereunder, is a multi-volume work on the coats of arms of the world; it is both monumental and without equal, and is the most exhaustive undertaking of its kind. Needless to say the volumes are in French, but the information is stereotyped, and easily understood.
The Armorial General is the most authoritative work on the coats of arms in the world. The descriptions of the arms cover those of more than 100,000 families, alphabetically arranged and accurately described. The work was compiled from hundreds of armorials and it contains an extensive glossary of terms. In addition to a full description of the arms, most entries identify the nationality of the arms bearer, his title, and the date his title was conferred. The basic text was established with the publication of the second edition, corrected and enlarged, of 1884-1887. In 1950 a reprint was published in a limited edition of 250 copies, with a new Preface and new Additions and Corrections. The present reprint is an exact reproduction of this 1950 edition. It is the best edition available and the first to appear in America.
". . . it should be in any library with a reference collection of any size, and in any genealogy and heraldry and museum library."--Library Journal (July 1965).
Paperback, 1,149 + 1,316pp. (1884, 1887, 1950) Reprint
