Titles of Honor

Selden, John. Titles of Honor. Carefully Corrected With Additions and Amendments by the Author. London: E. Tyler and R. Holt, 1672. [xxxiv], 756 pp. Copperplate portrait frontispiece. Text illustrated with woodcuts and copperplate engravings. [xxxiv], 756 pp. (9" x 12"). With a new introduction by Stephen M. Sheppard. Reprint available August 2004 by The Lawbook Exchange, Ltd. ISBN 1-58477-410-X. Cloth. $195. * Reprint of the third edition. With a eulogy by Ben Jonson. Bibliographical references in margins. Selden's [1584-1654] great historical work on nobility begins with a general discussion of titles and nobility. The following chapters consider the nobility of ancient Greece and Rome, Europe, the British Isles, the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox Churches, the Middle East and Asia. The final chapters survey various aspects of ceremony and precedence. First published in 1614, this work went through three editions. The third is the best as it contains substantial additions. The text is complemented with numerous illustrations of court dress, insignia and maps.