Randle Holme's Academy of Armory is a seventeenth century Universal Encyclopaedia, whose value for early modern social history and as a source for the study of material culture has long been recognised. In 2000, the British Library published the CD-ROM, Living and Working in Seventeeth Century England, providing a ‘web-site’ incorporating those parts of Randle Holme’s text that relate to trades, crafts and every-day life and, in particular, incorporating more than 2,400 of his original drawings, taken from the Library’s Harleian mss. This was edited by Nat Alcock, FSA, and Dr Nancy Cox (who has sadly since died). This CD has long been unobtainable but, happily, the Tools and Trades History Society has agreed to mount its contents in their entirety on their website for free public access and the British Library has generously granted permission to make this available.
There is an introduction and guide to using the files as well as information about the work. Access is from the toolbar above.