author
Charles Boutell
1812–1877
Best known for making heraldry and medieval art easier to understand, this Victorian archaeologist and clergyman wrote practical, well-illustrated books that stayed useful for generations. His work helped bring subjects like brasses, arms, armour, and coats of arms to a much wider audience.
1 Audiobook
The Handbook to English Heraldry
by Charles Boutell
About the author
Born at Pulham St Mary in Norfolk on 1 August 1812, Charles Boutell was an English archaeologist, antiquary, and Anglican clergyman. He studied at St John's College, Cambridge, took priest's orders in 1839, and later served in a series of curacies before becoming rector of All Saints, Norwood, in south London.
Boutell is remembered chiefly for his lively and accessible writing on heraldry, monumental brasses, and medieval arms and armour. He also illustrated many of his own books, which gave his work a practical, visual quality that suited readers who wanted clear guidance rather than academic showiness. Among his best-known works are A Manual of Heraldry and studies of English brasses and church art.
Alongside his church career, he was active in antiquarian and architectural circles, including the St Albans Architectural Society and the London and Middlesex Archaeological Society. He died on 31 July 1877, leaving behind books that helped shape popular understanding of heraldry and medieval antiquities in Victorian Britain.