Dexter: Per pale, gu. and az., 3 eagles displayed or. _Coke._
Sinister: Sa., an eagle displayed erm. _Tufton._
_Crest._--On a chapeau az., turned up erm., an ostrich arg., holding in its mouth a horseshoe or.
[MORGUES. _Diverses Pièces pour la Defense de la Royne Mère du Roy Louys XIII._ Paris, 1637.]
Thomas Coke (born circ. 1699, died 20th April 1759) was the eldest son of Edward Coke of Holkham in Norfolk. In 1725 Mr. Coke was made a Knight of the Order of the Bath, and in 1728 he was created Baron Lovel. In 1733 Lord Lovel was Postmaster-General, and in 1744 he was given a step in the Peerage and created Viscount Coke and Earl of Leicester. In 1718 Lord Leicester married Lady Mary Tufton, daughter of Thomas, Earl of Thanet. He left no heir, but the Earldom of Leicester was revived in 1837 in the person of one of his collateral descendants.
_Arms._--On two separate shields side by side.
Dexter shield: Arg., a cross gu., being the arms of St. George of England.
Sinister shield: Az., a harp or, stringed arg., being the Harp of Ireland.
[_Proclamations of the Lord Protector_, G. 5194.]
The Commonwealth was established in England in 1649, and Oliver Cromwell made Protector. In 1649 Charles, Prince of Wales, was crowned King at Scone, and in the next year at Carlisle. In 1658, on the death of Cromwell, the people of England felt that the Commonwealth had lasted long enough, and in 1660 Charles II. returned among general rejoicings. From a bookbinding point of view the period of the Commonwealth was one of little interest, but on the Restoration, Samuel Mearne raised the standard of English bookbinding to a very high level.
_Arms._--Arg., a chevron between 3 coots sa. _Coote._
[BOULAINVILLIERS. _Parliaments of France._ London, 1739.]
Charles Coote (born circ. 1761, died 19th November 1835) was the son of a London bookseller, John Coote, and was educated at St. Paul's School and at Oxford, where he distinguished himself by his diligence and literary tastes. He took his D.C.L. degree in 1789. Dr. Coote wrote several historical works of much importance, and in 1789 he was admitted to the College of Advocates, but he never appears to have taken much to law. His son H. C. Coote was an author of much note and a high authority on the subject of the Romans in Britain.