Book of Saint Albans
The Book of Saint Albans, also known as The Boke of Seynt Albans, was printed in England in 1486. It is a short collection of writings for a well‑born man, focusing on three main topics: hawking (bird hunting), hunting, and heraldry (coat of arms). It was the last of eight books printed by the St Albans Press and is sometimes called The Book of Hawking, Hunting, and Blasing of Arms. The printer is often referred to as the Schoolmaster Printer.
The 1486 edition ends with a note that suggests Juliana Berners contributed at least the hunting material. The part on hawking seems to come from an older guide, and the exact authorship is uncertain. The book became very popular and soon gained an extra essay on fishing, or angling. The heraldry section prints coats of arms in six colors, which was the first time color printing appeared in England.
In the 16th century the book was reprinted many times. In 1595 Gervase Markham edited it under the title The Gentleman's Academic. Much of the book is not original work; the end of the Blasynge of Armys says it was translated and compiled, and other parts were probably translations from French or other sources. An older fishing treatise was edited in 1883 by T. Satchell from a manuscript dating to about 1450, and this formed the fishing section used in the 1496 edition.
Only three perfect copies of the first edition are known to exist. A facsimile edition, The Boke of St Albans, with an introduction by William Blades, appeared in 1881. Juliana Berners is named in the 1486 edition, but little is known about her life. She is often thought to have been the prioress of Sopwell Priory near St Albans, and Wynkyn de Worde later spelled her name as Dame Julyans Bernes. De Worde’s 1496 edition begins by describing the contents: hawking, hunting, and coats of arms, plus a section on horses and the Blasing of Armys. This edition included three woodcuts and added the fishing treatise not found in the St Albans edition.
The hunting treatise is believed to be a metrical rewrite of an older French work, Le Art de Venerie by Guillaume Twici. The book also includes a long list of animal “collective nouns,” or terms for groups of animals and people. Many of these enduring phrases, such as a “gaggle of geese,” come from this book and were popularized by later editions, especially Markham’s 1595 version.
A later addition, the Treatyse of Fysshynge wyth an Angle, gave practical fishing advice and influenced Izaak Walton’s famous Compleat Angler. The book also discusses heraldry and the law of arms, arguing that the right to arms is part of natural law and examining who may bear coats of arms. This section was later studied and reprinted by heraldic writers, who cited various sources and debates from the medieval period.
In short, The Book of Saint Albans is a 15th‑century guide that blends hunting, hawking, heraldry, and fishing, with a mix of original material and older sources. It helped shape later English writing on manners, nature, and the symbols of gentry.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:54 (CET).