BURKES GENERAL ARMOURY
BURKES PEERAGE 106th EDITION

      1st edition: General Armory of England, Scotland and Ireland, London: Ed. Churton,
      1842. Revised 1843.
      3d edition: Encyclopaedia of Heraldry, or General Armory of England, Scotland and
      Ireland, London, H.G.Bohn, 1844. Reprints in 1847 and 1851.
      Enlarged edition: General Armory of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. London:
      Harrison and Sons, 1878. New editions (with supplements): 1883, 1884 (this was the last
      edition).
      Reprint (of the 1884 ed) Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1961, also 1967, 1969,
      1976. London: Clowes and Sons, 1962. London: Heraldry Today, 1984.

 The last edition of Burke's (1884) contains 60,000 names. Burke's is the most easily accessible
 British armory. It should be noted, however, that sources are infrequently given, and that Burke's
 editors collected as many blazons as they could, regardless of origin or accuracy. It is therefore not
 to be taken as the final word on who is or was using which arms in Great Britain.

 The Burkes wrote extensively and produced a number of genealogical reference books. These
 books are worth consulting because they usually contain heraldic information for the families that are
 listed:

      Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the British
      Empire
      founded 1826, (4:1832, 7:1842, annual 15-79:1853-1917, 80:1921, 81-97:1923-39,
      99:1949, 100:1953, 101:1956, 104:1967, 105:1970, 106:1999)
      Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain and
      Ireland
      started in 1833 as [...] of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland, became [...] of
      the Landed Gentry of Great Britain with the 9th ed. in 1900; 15th ed. 1937, 16th ed.
      1939, 17th ed. in 2 vols 1952, 18th and last ed. in 3 vols 1965-72; separate Irish edition
      [...] of the Landed Gentry of Ireland in 1899, 1904, 1912, and 1958, continued by
      Burke's Irish Family Records
      A genealogical and heraldic history of the colonial gentry
      1891-95
      A genealogical history of the dormant, abeyant, forfeited, and extinct peerages of the
      British empire
      1st ed. 1846, 2d ed. 1866, 3d and last ed. 1883 reprinted 1969 by Burke's Peerage Ltd,
      London and 1978 by Genealogical Publishing Co, Baltimore; continued by L. G. Pine as:
      The new extinct peerage, 1884-1971, 1973
      A genealogical and heraldic history of the extinct and dormant baronetcies of England,
      Ireland, and Scotland, 1838, 1841, 1844 reprinted 1977

 A Note of Caution: Fake and Real Burke's

 The last edition of the old Burke's Peerage was the 105th, in 1970. Soon after, the company that
 published it went into liquidation, and its assets were sold off. Among the assets were two separate
 pieces of property:

      The name "Burke's Peerage"
      the copyright to the 105th edition and the rights to the book itself

 The name ultimately was acquired by Brooks Marketing, which leased it for a while to Halbert's
 Family Heritage, specialized in packaging excerpts of telephone directories into "family histories"
 (for more on Halbert's Family Heritage, see this opinion, that opinion (in French) as well as a
 general statement by the National Genealogical Society). That particular joint venture has ended,
 however, although the firm "Burke's Peerage", which is totally unconnected to the book by that
 name, is still in business.

 In 1999, a new edition of Burke's Peerage (the book) came out under the editorship of Charles
 Mosley. It is called the 106th edition, and its imprint is "Crans, Switzerland : Burke's Peerage
 (Genealogical Books) Ltd. ; Hove, UK : distributed by Morris Genealogical Books SA ; Chicago,
 Ill. : published for libraries worldwide by Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1999." This is the "real" thing.