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Heraldry, or armory, was established in Europe during the latter half of the twelfth century. The symbols incorporated into a coat of arms served to distinguish armored participants in war and tournaments. Initially, arms were a sign of nobility, but by the mid-thirteenth century they were used by many classes. The seven books included on this CD deal with the principal components of heraldic bearings, namely, coats of arms, crests, and mottoes, and they attempt to identify coats of arms with their original bearers--those to whom armorial bearings were first awarded--and to trace the descent of arms in the male line.

Information provided in the seven volumes ranges from exhaustive lists of owners, or holders, of coats of arms to glossaries of heraldic terms, lists of mottoes, and descriptions of heraldic blazonings. Among the works included you"ll find a guide to all coats of arms known to have been in use in America during the colonial period as well as the best-known reference work on British heraldry, Burke's General Armory. Some of the books list lines of descent from the earliest known holder of the coat of arms to a recent descendant. The following books are included on the CD:

The General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales, by John Bernard Burke. Contains descriptions of 70,000 British coats of arms listed alphabetically by family name. Also contains a glossary, a dictionary of heraldic terms, and lists of the Orders of Knighthood.

Fairbairn's Book of Crests of the Families of Great Britain, by James Fairbairn. Alphabetical list of 50,000 names associated with various crests (an ornament or device attached to a helmet or coronet and pictured above the shield in a coat of arms).

An Ordinary of Arms Contained in the Public Register of All Arms and Bearings in Scotland, by Sir James Balfour Paul. The definitive work on the thousands of arms recorded in the Lord Lyon's Office in Scotland.

Complete American Armoury and Blue Book, by John Matthews. Consolidated edition of three volumes dealing with the armorial bearings of American families. With heraldic descriptions of arms and crests, it links early holders to recent representatives.

Bolton's American Armory, by Charles Knowles Bolton. Includes virtually all coats of arms known to have been in use in the United States since colonial days.

Crozier's General Armory, by William Armstrong Crozier. Details include the name of the first person of the family to settle in America, the date of his arrival and place of settlement, and the name of his town or country of origin.

Virginia Heraldica, by William Armstrong Crozier. A registry of Virginia gentry entitled to coat armor, with birth date, birthplace, occupation, marriage, and date and place of death.

System Requirements: You must have a CD-ROM drive, and in order to read the CD you must use either the Family Archive Viewer (version 4.0 or higher), which is available as a free download at http://www.genealogical.com/content/dlfav6.html, or Family Tree Maker for Windows, version 4.0 or higher (Family Tree Maker software can be ordered from www.FamilyTreeMaker.com).

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using the Family Archive Viewer:

1. Install the Family Archive Viewer CD or download it from http://www.genealogy.com/dlfav6.html.
2. Start the Viewer if it is not already running
3. Insert the CD you wish to view into the CD-ROM drive. If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.
4. The CD should open automatically, but users of later versions of the Family Archive Viewer must click the CD/magnifying glass icon in the top toolbar (above the template in some versions) to read the CD.
5. When the screen entitled “About this Family Archive�? appears, click OK where prompted.

To access information on our Family Archive CDs using Family Tree Maker:

1. Start your Family Tree Maker and open a Family File. (If the program is already running, skip to Step 2.)
2. Insert the CD in your computer's CD-ROM drive. (If you have 2 or more CD-ROM drives, the CD must be placed in the first one.)
3. From the View menu, select Family Finder, or select the Family Finder icon from the toolbar.
4. For FTM 2005, FTM 2006, or Version 16 or later: From the View menu, select Data CD, then View CD.

To search the CD for names, select the Search Expert button in the top right of your screen, then select "Search this archive for someone NOT from your Family File." You can also search for names by using the Index.

Note: If a window opens that contains a list of files on the CD, simply close it.