Jean-Baptiste RIETSTAP is a Dutch genealogist and heraldist, born
in Rotterdam May 12, 1828 and died in The Hague October 30, 1891. He
married, September 16, 1857, Jeanne-Marie de HAAS. The couple had no
children.
Clerk and stenographer in the Second Chamber, Jean-Baptiste RIETSTAP
indulged during his free time, a huge research work. In 1861 he
published the first edition of the General Armorial.
For the first time, he gathered, in one volume, hundreds of regional or
national armorial across Europe. His book was containing more than 110
000 descriptions.
From 1903, Victor and Henri Rolland undertook the achivement of an
illustrated General Armorial. They designed in
black and white (respecting heraldic rules) the majority of the
heraldic descriptions cited in the original book. They also continued
to complement the work of Jean-Baptiste RIETSTAP and published several
supplements to the General Armorial from 1926
to 1954.
You can find the families origins (country, ...) in the french version
LETTERS "A" to "Z" COMPLETED
LETTERS "A" and "G" to "K" WITH IMAGES OF THE BLAZONS