The Blazon of Episcopacy being the arms borne by or attributed to the archbishops a. bishops of England a. Wales

The Blazon of Episcopacy, first published in 1858 by Reverend William Kirkpatrick Riland Bedford, was conceived as a scholarly endeavor to catalog and standardize the heraldic arms associated with the archbishops and bishops of England and Wales. Living during the Victorian era, a period marked by a fervent revival of interest in gothic architecture, genealogy, and ecclesiastical history, Bedford sought to organize centuries of disparate and often contradictory armorial data into a single, accessible reference volume.

The work is noted for its meticulous assembly of episcopal seals and heraldic records, serving as a primary resource for researchers of church history and heraldry. Bedford, who possessed a deep personal interest in antiquarian subjects, designed the volume to provide clarity to a complex subject often obscured by regional variations and historical decay. The collection was well-received within academic and ecclesiastical circles for its rigorous documentation, ultimately seeing a revised and expanded edition in 1897 that solidified its reputation as an authoritative text in the field of British heraldry.