Introduction to the West Kingdom Herald's Handbook
Home Page > Information for Heralds > Herald's Handbook > Introduction
Last Updated: September, 2017
Authors: Frederick of Holland, Alison von Markheim, Hirsch von Henford
Policy Level: Informational
Intended Audience: All Heralds
Abstract: This is simply a summary of the purpose of the Heralds' Handbook,
and what to expect when reading it.
You are looking at the current version of the West Kingdom Herald's Handbook. A few words of introduction are necessary to explain how to use this Handbook. If you have looked through it you will notice that it is not yet complete. This Handbook was not intended ever to be a complete work, but rather a compilation of articles on heraldry and heralds in the West Kingdom which set policy or which may be of use otherwise. Each article is dated with the date that it was included in the Handbook, or on which it was included in a revised form. You are welcome to suggest revisions or additional articles for future editions.
The Handbook is not intended necessarily to be read from beginning to end. Rather it is intended to be perused through the Table of Contents, and useful information culled out as you require it. Each article or section has a section at the top of each page giving the title, author, and a brief abstract, to help you in finding information of use to you.
There are basically three kinds of articles herein. The first represents official policy, either of the College of Arms of the SCA, Inc. (CoA) or of the West Kingdom College of Heralds (CoH, or CoHoW). These are such things as "Duties of Heralds" or "The Rules for Submission". The second represents information which it is hoped will be useful to working heralds, such as "Philosophy of Court", or "How to set up a Heralds' Roster" or "Beginning Blazon". The last are articles or information which may be of use to anyone in the West Kingdom, and which they will generally come to a herald to obtain. "How to Submit a Device", and "How to use your College of Heralds" might fall into this category. Nothing in this Handbook is secret knowledge, fit only for heralds, though some articles will be more technical than others.
When this Handbook was originally published, it was intended to function like a computer manual. As things changed in the heraldic world, new pages or articles would be produced to replace the outdated ones. However, it has been found that things don't change all that often, and that is not a practical way to manage a book of this sort. In the current world of computers, cell phones, and more, it is easier to work with the handbook as a series of web pages, which is where things now stand. A couple of articles may be in PDF format as they are meant to be printed, and the use of PDFs ensures that things don't need to be formatted for different computers/printers/etc to maintain their appearance.
You will find that some of the links on the Table of Contents for the handbook point to other parts of the Heralds' website, or sometimes to other websites. This is because it is not necessary (and would be redundant) to reproduce the same information here if it is already available elsewhere.
Note that not all original portions of the handbook are protected by copyright. Some sections are copyright to some other publication (e.g. the selections from the Known World Handbook) and have been published here with the understanding that they may be copied. If articles may not be further copied without permission, notification of this fact is included. You may duplicate any or all portions of this book that are not protected provided that you copy any given article in its entirety, including an acknowledgment of the source. In fact, if you are a local herald you are encouraged to copy such things as handouts and submission forms for your own use and/or the education of the populace.