Media: BOOK - hardcover, 938 pages
Author: Dod
Year: 1885
Publisher: Whittaker & Co.

Dod'’s 'Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage of Great Britain and Ireland for 1885 including all the titled classes' was the 45th year of the publication. As the introduction to this book indicates:

Accounts of the titled classes had hitherto been confined to those who possessed hereditary distinctions, omitting any reference to nearly one thousand officers in the colonial, diplomatic, military, naval, and civil service of the state. Bishops, Judges, Privy Councillors, and the different classes of Knights, enjoy distinctions which command universal respect, discharge functions of the highest dignity, and are in the daily habit of performing services to the State, on which the authority of England abroad and her security at home are mainly dependent; yet a complete collection of memoirs relating to those distinguished individuals remained unattempted till this publication made its first appearance.

Apart from listing, with a brief biography, all the titled classes (including Australians, Canadians and New Zealanders), the book gives the rules of precedence, general rules, for knightly precedence, for judicial and legal precedence, clerical precedence, university precedence, naval precedence, military precedence, precedence among ladies, and precedence among foreigners in England all you needed to know.

SAMPLE ENTRY:

AYRES, K.C.M.G. Creat. 1872. —SIR HENRY AYRES. Born 1821, is first minister of the government of South Australia, and for some years a member of the legislative council there; was created C.M.G. 1870, advanced to K.C.M.G. 1872. Residence Adelaide, South Australia.

CONDITION: Being over 130 years old, this book is abound to show some wear but for what it is, it's in good nick. The cover does have some marks and wear on the covers, but the gold leaf is still in excellent condition. Most of the pages are still intact, and are pretty clean without age spots.