Philip Lea - The Coats-of-Arms of the King and all the Lords Spirituall & Temporall of England, 65 hand-coloured - 1697

The Coats-of-Arms of the King and all the Lords Spirituall & Temporall of England - [London, Philip Lea, ca 1697] - 65 hand coloured engravings (verso blanco=130pp) - contemporary full leather binding

Good condition: binding showing typical age-related wear including surface scuffing and bumping to edges, dried-out leather, a small hole at the bottom of the lower joint, and slight loss to the bottom corner of the rear board. ; internal hinges are tender and partially split but the text block remains firmly attached. Internally, the paper is toned with some occasional spotting and age-browning to edges, featuring a minor tear of approx. 0.5 cm in the margin of four leaves and a few dog-eared corners, while the hand-coloring remains notably vibrant and well-preserved throughout.


This exceptionally rare armorial work contains the hand-coloured engraved title page, the hand-coloured cadency/tincture key (Distinction of Houses), and exactly 63 hand-colored engraved plates.
The title page features the contemporary inscription "This may bee Printed. Norfolke & Marshall". This is not a printer’s imprint, but the official license to publish (imprimatur). Because the book documents the realm's official peerage, it required the formal approval of the Duke of Norfolk (Norfolke), who held the hereditary office of Earl Marshal (Marshall) of England and served as the head of the College of Arms.
A fascinating feature of this copy is its specific contemporary assembly: all 63 plates have been neatly trimmed and mounted (pasted) onto the blank album leaves. This production method was utilized by the print and map seller Philip Lea to issue fast heraldic updates to buyers. The plates document the entire peerage of England (Dukes, including royal bastards like FitzRoy and Beauclerk, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Bishops, and Barons). The final plate concludes with John Thompson (Lord Haversham, cr. 1696) and John Somers (concluding with the elevation to Lord Sommers in April 1697), leaving two shields blank for future creations. This securely dates the printing and composition of these specific sheets to mid-to-late 1697. Beautifully heightened in contemporary hand-colouring.

Every single engraving is pictured in the lot photos

Bibliographical Note on the Edition: Because this work was continuously updated sheet by sheet in Philip Lea's workshop, there is no strict bibliographical distinction between a "first" or "second" edition. This copy belongs to the original first edition issued by Philip Lea (prior to the posthumous updates published by his widow Ann Lea after 1703). Representing a very early, documented transitional state of this first edition, these sheets were printed and assembled during the exact second half of 1697.

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