So Many Projects … So Little Time

I was reminded again the other day of just how many heraldic projects that I have which are currently “on hold” awaiting the availability of more time in which to actually do them. The time is coming when I may really be able to sit down at my desk and get to work on many of them. Unfortunately, that day has not yet arrived; the need to do things like pay the mortgage on the house and buy such minor incidentals as, say, food and electricity (necessary to accomplishing any meaningful work on a computer), keep me working at my full-time job.

But, as I say, I was reminded of one of these heraldic projects the other day by a posting on Facebook. Some of you may already know that I had written a small book entitled Camels In Heraldry (information about which can be found at http://www.appletonstudios.com/BooksandGames.htm). Shortly after publication, I found some more coats of arms and crests with camels in them, and so have begun a file for a supplement or a second expanded edition of this book. Well, this post on Facebook linked to a book owned by the Bavarian State Library in Munich, Das Wappenbuch Conrads von Grünenberg, Ritters und Bürgers zu Constanz – BSB Cgm 145, um 1480, which can be found on-line (and downloaded!) from http://bsb-mdz12-spiegel.bsb.lrz.de/~db/0003/bsb00035320/images/*

In a quick look through this copy of Conrad von Grünenberg’s Wappenbuch, I noticed on p. 55 two different coats of arms with camels on them.

One is the arms attributed to the king of “Cana” in greater India, Or a native [Moor?] Proper[? He’s kind of an iron-gray color all over] astride a camel statant Gules.

The other is the arms attributed to the king of “Manchy” [? It’s not easy to decipher the handwriting in the short time I’ve had available to look at this), also in India, Vert a Bactrian camel statant Or.

Now, while I am happy to have found two more coats of arms to add to my work on Camels In Heraldry, it did serve to remind me that I have a number of heraldic projects waiting for my time and attention to complete. So, yeah, I’m afraid I’m rapidly getting to the point where retirement from full-time employment cannot come too soon. Because when it does come, I should be able to get some of these projects completed, something I hope that we all can look forward to. I’ll be sure to keep you posted as they develop.


*There are a whole lot of old heraldic books which can be viewed and/or downloaded from the Library. There is a link in the left-hand column of this blog under “Some Good On-Line Armorials and Ordinaries” for the Münchener DigitalisierungsZentrum Digitale Bibliothek, where the link (http://www.digitale-sammlungen.de/index.html?suchbegriff=wappenbuch&c=suchen) will take you to a results pages for a search for “wappen” in their holdings.