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+*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40028 ***
+
+[Illustration: Passionale, etc., MS., _circa_ 1100 A.D. Henry I.]
+
+
+
+
+  ROYAL ENGLISH BOOKBINDINGS
+
+
+  _By_ CYRIL DAVENPORT, F.S.A.
+  _Of the Department of Printed Books, British Museum_
+
+
+  LONDON
+  SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED, GREAT RUSSELL STREET
+  NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
+  1896
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+
+_COLOURED PLATES_
+
+                                                                      PAGE
+
+  I. Passionale, etc., MS., _circa_
+  1100 A.D.                                   Henry I.      _Frontispiece_
+
+  II. Penitential Psalms, etc., MS.,
+  sixteenth century                           Henry VIII.               16
+
+  Novum Testamentum Græce. Lutetiæ, 1550
+  (gold centres)                              Queen Elizabeth           16
+
+  III. Deloenus. Libellus de tribus
+  Hierarchiis, etc., MS.                      Henry VIII.               18
+
+  IV. [Greek: BASILIKON DÔRON.] Written
+  for Prince Henry, by King James VI. of
+  Scotland. MS                                James I.                  54
+
+  V. Ortelius. Theatre of the World.
+  London, 1606                                Do.                       58
+
+  VI. New Testament, etc. London, 1643        Charles I.                66
+
+  VII. Gil. [Greek: PARERGA], etc.
+  Londini, 1632                               Do.                       68
+
+  VIII. Order of the Coronation of George
+  III. and Queen Charlotte. London, 1761      George III.               94
+
+
+_ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT_
+
+  Indentures between Henry VII. and John
+  Islippe, Abbot of Westminster, concerning
+  the foundation of the Chantrey, etc., MS.   Henry VII.                11
+
+  Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiæ
+  Potestatis et Ecclesiasticæ. Londini,
+  1534                                        Henry VIII.               15
+
+  Description of the Holy Land, in French.
+  By Martin Brion. MS.                        Do.                       17
+
+  Le Chappellet de Ihesus, MS., sixteenth
+  century                                     Margaret Tudor,
+                                              Queen of James IV.
+                                              of Scotland               21
+
+  Il Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544                 Queen Katharine Parr      23
+
+  Prayers, etc. Malborow, 1538 (Doublure)     Edward VI.                29
+
+  Queen Mary's Psalter, MS.                   Queen Mary                33
+
+  Prayers, etc. London, 1574-1591             Queen Elizabeth           35
+
+  Christian Meditations, in Latin, 1570       Do.                       37
+
+  Parker. De antiqvitate Britannicæ
+  Ecclesiæ. London, 1572                      Do.                       41
+
+  Orationis Dominicæ Explicatio, per L.
+  Danaeum. Genevae, 1583                      Do.                       45
+
+  La Saincte Bible. Lyon, 1566                Do.                       47
+
+  Gospels in Anglo-Saxon and English.
+  London, 1571                                Do.                       49
+
+  Trogi Pompeii Historiarum Philippicarum
+  epitoma. Parisiis, 1581                     Do.                       53
+
+  Livius. Romana Historia. Avreliæ
+  Allobrogvm, 1609                            Henry Prince of Wales     61
+
+  Collection of Miscellaneous Tracts in
+  MS.                                         Do.                       63
+
+  Dallington. Aphorismes, Civill and
+  Militarie. London, 1613                     Charles Prince of Wales   67
+
+  Common Prayer. London, 1662                 Charles II.               69
+
+  A short View of the late Troubles in
+  England, etc. Oxford, 1681                  Do.                       73
+
+  Bible. Cambridge, 1674                      James II.                 75
+
+  Euclide. Oxford, 1705                       Queen Anne                79
+
+  Ælfric. An English-Saxon Homily on the
+  Birthday of St. Gregory. London, 1709       Queen Anne                81
+
+  Account of what passed in a Conference
+  concerning the Succession to the Crown,
+  MS.                                         George I.                 85
+
+  Le Nouveau Testament. Amsterdam, 1718       George II.                87
+
+  Chandler. A Vindication of the Defence
+  of Christianity. London, 1728               Do.                       88
+
+  Common Prayer. Cambridge, 1760              Queen Charlotte           90
+
+  Portfolio containing the Royal Letter
+  concerning the King's Library               George IV.                92
+
+_The Coloured Plates are printed by Edmund Evans._
+
+
+
+
+ROYAL ENGLISH BOOKBINDINGS
+
+
+
+
+PROLOGUE
+
+
+It is curious that twice in English history the royal libraries have been
+given to the nation. The ancient royal collection, containing manuscripts
+from the reign of Richard III., was added to by each sovereign in turn;
+but it seems to have been brought into notice and taken special care of by
+Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I. Out of his own private income,
+this Prince added largely to the old collection, and purchased the
+important libraries of Lord Lumley, of a Welshman named Maurice, and that
+of Isaac Casaubon. On his death the library became the property of James
+I., and after some other changes, both the old library and that of Prince
+Henry were deposited at Ashburnham House, where in 1731 there was a fire
+which damaged some of it. It was then removed to the old Dormitory at
+Westminster, and in 1757 it was presented by George II. to the nation, and
+was handed over to the Trustees of the Sloane and Cottonian Libraries, and
+placed in Montagu House, then newly purchased as a National Museum. There
+were at this time in the old royal library about 15,000 volumes
+altogether, and very many of them were still in their ancient and
+beautiful bindings.
+
+George III., finding on his accession to the throne that there was no
+royal library, very energetically set to work to form a new collection. He
+chose his agents very carefully, and appointed Sir Frederick Barnard to be
+his librarian. Sir Frederick travelled widely in search of books, and,
+acting partly under the advice of Dr. Samuel Johnson, eventually brought
+together perhaps the finest collection of books ever made by one man. On
+the king's death the library contained upwards of 65,000 volumes, besides
+more than 19,000 separate tracts and some manuscripts.
+
+Generally speaking, the bindings in the "King's Library"--the name by
+which George III.'s collection is now known in the British Museum--are
+modern; but among them are a considerable number of old bindings in good
+condition, and it is possible that those which were rebound were mostly in
+a bad state. Unfortunately the crowned monogram of George III. is
+generally impressed in a prominent place, even on such old bindings as
+have been otherwise preserved intact; and although valuable as a record it
+is often a great disfigurement. There is little doubt that George III.'s
+intention was to create a new royal library to remain in the possession of
+the kings themselves, but there seems to have been some idea that it would
+eventually become national property, as Dr. Frederick Wendeborn, a German
+preacher, well known at Court, wrote: "The King's Private Library ... can
+boast very valuable and magnificent books, which, as it is said, will at
+one time or another be joined to those of the British Museum." This
+prediction was fulfilled in 1823, when George IV. presented it to the
+nation, and the fine room now known as the King's Library in the British
+Museum was built for its reception, the removal being completed in 1828.
+
+William IV. does not seem to have been altogether pleased that the royal
+libraries should have been twice given away, as he added a codicil to his
+will in 1833, bequeathing to the Crown "all his additions to the libraries
+in the several royal palaces," with an autograph confirmation dated from
+Brighton, November 30, 1834, signed and sealed by himself, declaring "that
+all the books, drawings, and plans collected in all the palaces shall for
+ever continue heirlooms to the Crown, and on no pretence whatever to be
+alienated from the Crown."
+
+The royal library at Windsor now contains the greatest number of royal
+bindings now existing in any one collection, except those at the British
+Museum, but it possesses very few that belonged to Tudor sovereigns. From
+the time of James I. it has a very fine collection.
+
+Where I have not specifically mentioned otherwise, the books described in
+the following pages are in the British Museum. They should be to the
+English people especially interesting, for not only are they national
+property, but any of them can be seen with little trouble, and a
+considerable number are actually exhibited in the binding show-cases in
+the King's Library, or in the Grenville Library.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+HENRY I.--EDWARD VI.--HENRY VII.--HENRY VIII.--KATHARINE OF ARRAGON--ANNE
+BOLEYN--MARGARET TUDOR--MARY TUDOR--KATHARINE PARR
+
+
+The rulers of England and of France have, ever since the introduction of
+printing into Europe, been great patrons of books, and moreover have by
+their individual tastes, both literary and artistic, largely influenced
+the styles of bookbinding prevalent during their reigns.
+
+In England from the time of Henry VII. onwards, and in France from Louis
+XII., a noble series of royal bookbindings exists at the present time, and
+may be considered with justice to be typical of the best work done at the
+different periods. Although there are a few great binders who do not
+appear, as far as is at present known, to have worked for royalty, there
+is no doubt that most of the great masters of this most fascinating art
+were at some time or other privileged to work for the sovereign houses of
+their time, if indeed they were not actually royal binders.
+
+Before printing was introduced into England in the fifteenth century by
+William Caxton, there is little or no record of any special collection of
+books made by any English sovereign. It is possible no such collection
+ever was made, but if it were, all trace and record of it is now lost.
+Rich mediæval bindings of a decorative character, such as are not uncommon
+in other countries, are unknown in England, and it is supposed that, for
+the sake of the valuable metal and gems which were commonly used on such
+bindings, they were destroyed under the early Tudor kings. At the same
+time, it seems unlikely that Henry VIII. or Edward VI. would have pulled
+to pieces any fine bindings, if they had already formed part of a royal
+library.
+
+It is difficult in the case of antiquities, the full record of which is
+not forthcoming, to be sure of statements which may be made concerning
+them; but so many antiquaries and men of mark have already borne testimony
+at all events to the probable truth of the legend that the coronation book
+of Henry I. still exists, that I feel any record of English royal
+bookbindings would be imperfect, not only without mention of it, but even
+without a detailed description. I think, however, that without exception
+every other book I shall describe or mention has upon it, or in it, some
+absolute mark of royal ownership, but on the other hand they are all much
+later. Indeed, as far as I know, no book of the twelfth century has any
+mark of ownership upon it, although the makers' name does rarely occur.
+
+The book in question (Plate I.) is quite small, measuring 7 × 4-1/2
+inches. It is a manuscript on vellum of lessons from the four gospels in
+Latin, written in the twelfth century; it also contains the whole of the
+Gospel of St. John except a small portion missing, and some other MSS. The
+binding is of thick wooden boards, covered probably with deer-skin. The
+lower cover has a sunk panel, and bears a crucified figure of our Lord
+cast in bronze, finely chased and formerly gilt. The corners are guarded
+with bossed pieces of brass, stamped with a device of a fleur-de-lis
+within a circle, and there is a clasp of leather and brass. The figure of
+our Lord appears distinctly old, but the rest of the metal work has not
+such evidence of antiquity, and it seems likely that it is much more
+recent. Inside the book are several manuscript notes by various owners,
+the most interesting of which is signed by John Ives, at "Yarmouth, St.
+Luke's Day, 1772." He says this "appears to be the original book on which
+our Kings and Queens took their coronation oaths before the Reformation."
+In Powell's _Repertoire of Records_, 1631, at p. 123, he mentions "a
+little booke with a crucifix" as being preserved in the chest of the
+King's Remembrancer at the Exchequer.
+
+Mr. Thomas Martin of Palgrave, owner of the book in the beginning of the
+eighteenth century, at one time lent it to Mr. Thomas Madox, author of
+the _History of the Exchequer_, and his opinion was that it was the book
+formerly belonging to the Exchequer, mentioned by Powell, and which was
+used to take the coronation oath upon by all our kings and queens till
+Henry VIII.
+
+It belonged afterwards to Mr. Thomas Astle, F.S.A., Keeper of the Records
+in the Tower of London, who died in 1803, and whose library was purchased
+by the Marquis of Buckingham and kept at Stowe in a beautiful Gothic room
+specially built for it. In June 1849 the library became the property of
+Lord Ashburnham, and from him it was purchased in 1883 by the Trustees of
+the British Museum, excepting the Irish MSS., which went to Dublin. This
+collection is now known as the Stowe Collection.
+
+There is a drawing of this book by Mr. George Vertue, presented by him to
+the Society of Antiquaries and still preserved in their library.
+
+From the time of Henry I. until that of Edward IV. there is no trace of
+any English royal bindings, and then only a small one. There is in the
+library of Westminster Abbey a loose leather binding impressed with a
+panel-stamp of the arms of Edward IV., crowned and supported by the two
+white lions of the Earls of March, and, moreover, at the top the two
+angels which are afterwards often found on the larger panel-stamps of a
+similar kind used in the time of Henry VIII. No other binding exists
+apparently that belonged to Edward IV., even if this one did, but in the
+wardrobe accounts of his reign are found several notices of binding. One
+reads, "for binding, gilding, and dressing" of books, but does not say
+what the material is. It was probably leather, calf or goat, as gilding on
+velvet does not seem to have then been thought of, although the material
+itself was certainly used, as in another place it is stated that "velvet
+vj yerdes cremysy figured" were delivered for the covering of the books of
+our lord the king; and indeed it is curious if the "gilding" was applied
+even to leather, as certainly no instances are known at so early a date of
+English origin.
+
+Actual instances of the use of velvet for bookbinding occur first among
+the books of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and the value, beauty, and
+wonderful durability of it are likely enough to have attracted the notice
+of royal and learned book lovers.
+
+Henry VII. was the first of our kings whose literary tastes have left any
+mark on our existing collections. He acquired a magnificent series of
+volumes printed on vellum at Paris by Antoine Verard, a celebrated French
+printer, besides other valuable books. This collection is now at the
+British Museum almost complete, and it is rebound in velvet. It is likely
+that the original binding was also velvet, but record of it is lost. There
+is, however, one magnificent volume that fortunately was so splendid and
+in so fine a condition that the ruthless rebinder has spared it. This is a
+copy of the Indentures made between Henry VII. and John Islippe, Abbot of
+Westminster, for the foundation of the chantrey. It is written on vellum,
+and its counterpart is preserved in the Public Record Office.
+
+It is covered in crimson velvet, edged with gold cord, and having tassels
+of crimson silk and gold, the velvet projecting broadly over the edges. On
+each side are centre and corner bosses of silver, gilt and enamelled. The
+centre bosses bear the royal coat-of-arms wrought in high relief, with the
+supporters used by the king--the red dragon of his ancestor Cadwallader,
+and the white greyhound he used both by right of his wife through the
+Nevills and his own maternal ancestors the Earls of Somerset. The corner
+bosses bear the portcullis, the emblem of the castle of Beaufort in Anjou,
+the residence of Catherine Swinford, and where Henry's maternal
+grandfather was born. Each of these portcullises is borne upon a white and
+green ground, the livery colours of the Tudors, and it has been used as a
+royal badge from the time of Henry VII. until the present day.
+
+The book is held together by bands of gold braid, and fastened by
+beautiful clasps of richly-chased silver-gilt, with enamelled red roses.
+Appended to the boards are five impressions of the Great Seal, each in a
+silver box, with either a portcullis or a red rose upon it. The seals hang
+by plaited cords of green and gold.
+
+There are similar books of Henry VII.'s besides this one. A fine instance
+was shown at the Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of Binding in 1891.
+It is a _Book of Penalties for non-performance of services in the Chapel
+of Henry VII. at Westminster_, and is bound in red velvet, with tassels
+and silver-gilt and enamelled bosses like those just described. It has
+silver clasps, and four silver boxes containing the seals of the parties
+to the indenture depend from the lower edge.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 1.--_Indentures between Henry VII, and John Islippe,
+Abbot of Westminster, concerning the foundation of the Chantrey, etc.,
+MS._]
+
+On one book, probably once the property of Henry VII., which somehow
+became separated from the rest, is found his coat-of-arms impressed on the
+gilt edges--a curious and early instance of decorative edge-work. A
+drawing of it was published in _Bibliographica_, vol. ii. p. 395. It is a
+Sarum Missal, Rouen, 1497, and was given to Cardinal Pole probably by
+Queen Mary, and eventually purchased by the British Museum.
+
+Henry VIII. apparently thought much of his library and its proper
+preservation and extension. He appointed John Leland, the antiquary, to be
+his library keeper, and gave him a special commission under the Broad Seal
+to travel and collect all kinds of antiquities and make records of them.
+Leland acquired, under these powers, many valuable manuscripts from the
+monasteries, then so ruthlessly being despoiled of their treasures; but,
+unfortunately, he does not seem to have been able to preserve any of the
+precious bindings in which many of them were doubtless encased.
+
+There is a considerable amount of documentary evidence concerning the
+binding of Henry VIII.'s books. Notices occur in the records of the "Privy
+Purse Expenses" of payments for velvet and vellum; and these two materials
+are again largely mentioned in the most interesting account now preserved
+among the additional manuscripts at the British Museum of the royal
+printer and binder, "Thomas Berthelett." This account, which is very full,
+refers to work done during the years 1541-43; and although, so far, no
+actual book has been identified as being one of those mentioned, yet the
+bindings we still possess of Henry VIII.'s are so generally of the same
+kind as those described that there seems little doubt that most, if not
+all of them, were bound by Berthelet.
+
+He mentions a Psalter "covered with crimosyn satyne," and we possess a
+collection of tracts bound in this manner, with a delicate tracery of gold
+cord, and on the edges is written in gold the words "REX IN ÆTERNUM VIVE
+NEEZ." This is probably what Berthelet, in an entry a little further on,
+calls "drawyng in gold on the transfile." There are several mentions of
+books "gorgiously gilded on the leather," and also others where he says
+books are bound "backe to backe" none of which seem to have survived, but
+there are plenty of instances of the "white leather gilt," so often used.
+"Purple velvet" was used to cover "ij Primers," which are now lost; but we
+possess a splendid volume covered in this way with embroidery upon it, and
+again he says he has bound books after the "Venecian fascion" and "Italian
+fascion." Truly the Italian work of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth
+centuries is extremely fine, and Berthelet may have seen some specimens of
+it, and, admiring them, have endeavoured to imitate their peculiar and
+beautiful gilded tooling.
+
+To Berthelet must be conceded the honour of being the first English binder
+to use gold stamped work on leather, and he does so with admirable effect.
+Many of his bindings gilded on white leather, sometimes deer-skin,
+sometimes vellum, are most charming; indeed, the taste for vellum has
+never died out in England from Berthelet's time to the present day, when
+we have William Morris's dainty volumes with their green ties. Berthelet's
+books also generally had ties, but they are now all worn off.
+
+A fine instance of this white leather and gold occurs on Sir Thomas
+Elyot's _Image of Governance_, printed by Berthelet in 1541.
+
+It bears the same design on each side. A panel, enclosed by an ornamental
+fillet, contains a very graceful arrangement of curves forming a central
+space in which are the words "Dieu et mon Droit"; and at each side of this
+the royal initials contained in two semicircles left for them. At each of
+the inner corners is a large set stamp, and the ground is dotted over with
+small circles and the daisy--a badge used by the Tudors probably as a
+compliment to their ancestress Margaret de Beaufort. On the edges are
+painted in gold the words "REX IN ÆTERNUM VIVE."
+
+Some of the same stamps are used on another book which is probably
+Berthelet's work. It is a manuscript Latin commentary on the campaign of
+the Emperor Charles V. against the French in 1544, addressed by Anthonius
+de Musica to Henry VIII. It is bound in brown calf, and bears within a
+broad outer fillet a panel containing in the centre the royal coat-of-arms
+and initials enclosed in an inner rectangular panel; above and below this
+are two rectangular cartouches, with titles of the king and various
+initials which have not yet been interpreted. Flanking the long central
+panel are medallions of Plato and Dido, favourite stamps afterwards with
+English binders, but occurring here for the first time.
+
+A design which was probably a favourite one of Berthelet's is found on a
+copy of _Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiæ Potestatis et
+Ecclesiasticæ_, printed by him in 1534 (Fig. 2). There is an instance of
+the same binding in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. The arms of the king,
+with the supporters of the dragon and the greyhound, occupy the centre of
+each board. This is enclosed in an oval ribbon bearing the words "Rex
+Henricus VIII. Dieu et mon Droit," and the whole is surrounded by an
+ornamental fillet with decorative corners. Above and below the shield are
+crowned double roses and the initials K. H.
+
+A collection of sixteenth-century tracts is covered with crimson satin,
+and ornamented with an arabesque design outlined in gold cord. This is the
+earliest English book remaining that is bound in satin, but no doubt many
+more existed, as they are so often mentioned in accounts of the time. The
+satin is always crimson, and, curiously enough, long afterwards under the
+Stuarts the use of satin was revived, but of a white colour. This
+collection of tracts was certainly enough bound for the king, as it has
+the peculiarity of the motto painted on its edges in gold, "REX IN ÆTERNUM
+VIVE NEEZ," which seems to have been a favourite form of decoration of
+Berthelet's, so very likely this is one of his books.
+
+Velvet, mentioned also by Berthelet, is used to cover a large Bible
+printed at Zurich in 1543, but there does not appear very clearly any mark
+by which it can be identified as his work. It is now of a tawny colour,
+but was originally probably crimson, and on it is outlined an elaborate
+design in gold cord. A broad outer border has an arabesque pattern
+arranged diamond-wise, with large double roses at each corner. Within this
+is a smaller rectangular border, enclosing a circle with the king's
+initials bound together by a scroll, and above and below the circle a
+repeating arabesque design. On the edges of this book are very elaborate
+heraldic paintings.
+
+A different kind of work altogether covers the splendid _Description de
+toute la terre Sainte_, by Martin de Brion (Fig. 3), a beautiful
+manuscript on vellum dedicated to Henry VIII., and full of illuminated
+reference to him and his heraldic attributes.
+
+It is bound in purple velvet and richly embroidered, and is the first of a
+splendid series of embroidered books on velvet executed in England. The
+design is simple, but it is carried out with such skill and taste that it
+is altogether most effective. In the centre is the royal coat-of-arms, the
+coats of France and England quarterly, as borne by our sovereigns from
+Richard II. to Elizabeth, Edward III., who first used the French coat,
+having originally borne it _semée de fleurs-de-lis_, but the number of
+these having been reduced to three by Charles VI. of France, a
+corresponding change was made in the English coat by his son-in-law
+Richard.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 2.--_Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiæ Potestatis
+et Ecclesiasticæ. Londini, 1534. Henry VIII._]
+
+The bearings on these coats are worked in gold thread on a couched
+groundwork of silk of the proper colours. The coat is ensigned by a large
+royal crown worked in gold thread, freely adorned with pearls on the
+arches, the crosses, and the fleurs-de-lis, as also on the rim, which is
+further ornamented with "jewels" of coloured silks. The blue Garter, with
+its motto in gold, and the spaces between the words marked by small red
+roses, surrounds the coat. The king's initial H.'s, originally worked in
+seed pearls, but now only showing the threads, flank the central design,
+and the corners are filled with raised Lancastrian roses of red silk,
+appliqués, and finished with gold.
+
+There is still another kind of binding used for one of the volumes in the
+British Museum that was made for Henry VIII., and that is of gold. It is a
+tiny copy of a metrical version of the penitential and other Psalms in
+English by John Cheke, Clerk in Chancery, written on vellum early in the
+sixteenth century (Plate II.) It has at the beginning a miniature portrait
+of Henry VIII., and is bound in gold, worked in open-leaf tracery, with
+remains of black enamel on many of the leaves and on the border
+surrounding them. The panels of the back have each a small pattern cut
+into the metal, and filled with a black enamel. At the top of each cover
+is a small ring so that the volume could be attached to the girdle. It is
+said to have been given by Queen Anne Boleyn when on the scaffold to one
+of her maids of honour, and it now forms part of the Stowe Collection at
+the British Museum.
+
+A book curiously decorated and bound in calf for Henry VIII. is a Bible
+printed at Antwerp in 1534, and in two volumes. These are large books
+measuring 14-1/2 × 9 inches, and both of them have been restored at the
+outer edges. The inner panel, rectangular with large corners, encloses on
+each side sentences in French, above and below which are crowned double
+roses and the initials H. A., probably standing for "Henry" and "Anna."
+The sentence reads on one side, "AINSI QUE TOUS MEURENT PAR ADAM," and on
+the other, "AUSSY TOUS SERONT VIVIFIES PAR CHRIST." The borders and
+corners are very rich and decorative, and it is likely that the outer
+ornamentation, although it is actually modern, has been carefully copied
+from the original.
+
+[Illustration: Penitential Psalms, etc., MS., sixteenth century. Gold
+Binding. Henry VIII.]
+
+[Illustration: Novum Testamentum Græce. Lutetiæ, 1550. Gold centres. Queen
+Elizabeth.]
+
+A handsome binding in dark brown calf covers an "old royal" manuscript,
+_Jul. Claud Iguini oratio ad Hen. VIII._, written probably about 1540. It
+has blind and gold lines, and the design is an outer border with an
+arabesque pattern stamped in gold, enclosing the royal coat-of-arms,
+crowned, and enclosed within a Garter. Round this again are four Greek
+words, "[Greek: PLIOS PANTAS ALIENÔN EXARKTON]," the meaning of which is
+not clear. On the coat-of-arms it is notable that the three lions of
+England are crowned. This peculiarity occurs sometimes in other books, but
+I believe heraldically the lions should not be crowned, and this book is
+the earliest instance I have met with in which they are so shown.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 3.--_Description of the Holy Land, in French. By
+Martin Brion. MS. Henry VIII._]
+
+_Galteri Deloeni Libellus de tribus Hierarchiis_, a manuscript dedicated
+to Henry and probably bound by Thomas Berthelet, is one of his most
+decorative bindings on a small book (Plate III.) The design is simple, a
+rectangle and a diamond fillet interlaced, enclosing the royal
+coat-of-arms crowned. In the two lower spaces below the shield are the
+crucifixion and the serpent in the wilderness with their corresponding
+texts, and the rest of the spaces are very fully filled with small stamps
+of arabesques, double roses, single and double daisies, stars, and leaves.
+The execution of the actual gilding is coarse, and the finish generally is
+not as perfect as it might be, but the general effect is excellent.
+
+One of the most interesting bindings of any that were made for Henry VIII.
+is that which was, or is supposed to have been, worked for him by his
+daughter Elizabeth. It is part of the old royal library in the British
+Museum, and is written on vellum in the Princess's own most careful and
+precise handwriting. It is a collection of prayers composed by Queen
+Katharine Parr, and translated by Elizabeth into Latin, French, and
+Italian, and dated "Hereford, December 20, 1545." The dedication is,
+"Illustrissimo Henrico octavo, Anglie, Francie, Hiberniæq. regi, fidei
+defensori." The volume is quite small, 5-3/4 inches by 4, and is covered
+in red silk, with a gold thread in it, woven with a very large mesh, or
+even possibly made by hand. In the centre of each board is a large
+monogram worked in a thick cord of blue silk, through which runs a silver
+thread. The monogram, like so many similar arrangements of letters, causes
+much difference of opinion among the experts who endeavour to interpret
+it. My solution is that it is composed of the letters "A. F. H. REX," the
+meaning of which is "Anglie, Francie, Hiberniæque Rex," in accordance with
+the words used by Elizabeth in her dedication, and the two H's, worked in
+a thick red silk cord with a silver thread in it, which are above and
+below the monogram, supply the needful name. I do not know that this
+interpretation is by any one considered to be the right one, but it
+appears to me at all events as plausible as any of the others I have
+heard. At each corner is a heartsease of purple and gold and small green
+leaves. This most curious and interesting binding is in many ways nearly
+allied to that made for Queen Katharine Parr, which is now at the
+Bodleian Library at Oxford, and which I shall presently describe. This
+binding is also considered to be the work of the Princess Elizabeth, and I
+think that the similarity in the peculiar groundwork, the identity of the
+pansies in the corners, and the use of braid or very thick thread in each,
+producing a maximum of effect with a minimum of labour, are all strong
+reasons for believing that both volumes are the work of the same hand,
+namely, that, of the Princess herself.
+
+[Illustration: Deloenus. Libellus de tribus Hierarchiis, etc., MS. Henry
+VIII.]
+
+The Bodleian binding is in very fair condition, but the British Museum one
+is, unfortunately, in a very dilapidated state. Luckily, however, it has
+not been restored, so what is left can be safely examined and relied upon.
+
+English royal bindings, of old date especially, now rarely come into the
+open market, but in the latter part of last year a most interesting
+specimen that belonged to Henry VIII. was purchased by the British Museum.
+It is a manuscript on the science of geometry, written on paper and
+dedicated to the king. It is bound in white leather, and has many signs
+that it is the work of Thomas Berthelet. There is an outer border of blind
+and gold lines, with solid arabesques at the outer corners, and stars in
+the inner corners. The centre of each board bears a geometrical design of
+triangles and lines filled in with stars and dots. In the upper part of
+each board is a cartouche bearing the words "VIVAT REX," and at the lower
+part a similar cartouche with the word "GEOMETRIA," followed by an
+arabesque ornament. Written in gold on the white edges are the words "REX
+IN ÆTERNUM VIVE NEEZ." There is no book of Berthelet's, except this one,
+on which the decoration has any reference to the contents of the volume.
+It is indeed probable that this is actually one of the first books in
+which there has been any endeavour to make the outside decoration agree
+with the subject-matter inside.
+
+The word "Nez," or "Neez," which usually occurs after the "Rex in Æternum
+Vive" so frequently painted on the edges of Henry VIII.'s books, has been
+a puzzle for some time. Mr. E. L. Scott of the British Museum suggests
+that it may stand for the first letters of the words "[Greek:
+Nabouchodonosôr esaei zêthi]," as the king to whom the words are addressed
+in the Book of Daniel is Nebuchadnezzar. This explanation I have already
+given in _Bibliographica_, part viii.
+
+In the sixteenth century in England a great many books were decorated in
+what is called "blind," that is to say, without the use of gold-leaf, with
+large panel-stamps. Two of these stamps bear the royal coat-of-arms, with
+supporters ensigned with the crown. The larger of them has above the crown
+a double rose and two angels bearing scrolls, and dependent from the
+shield, by chains, are two portcullises. The smaller and inferior stamp
+has, in the upper portion, representations of the sun and moon, with
+usually the Cross of St. George and the arms of the City of London. The
+first of these stamps may, I think, have been originally cut for the
+king's own use; but the second is undoubtedly a trade stamp. The
+signification of it probably is, that the binder who used it was a Freeman
+of the City of London. I have given figures of these designs in the
+_Queen_ of June 20, 1891, in illustration of a paper on early London
+bookbindings. The stamp with the angels is often used in conjunction with
+the stamps of Katharine of Arragon and Anne Boleyn, to be hereafter
+described; and I mention it here because it is not at all uncommon, and is
+very generally supposed to be actually royal, but, as far as I have been
+able to ascertain, there is no instance of its use upon a book which is
+known to have been so, and now it is generally considered to be only a
+trade stamp. In judging stamps of this kind, it must not be forgotten that
+they were cut in hard metal and only used on soft leather, so that they
+would last a very long time indeed. Generally, some other evidence of the
+ownership of the book should be adduced beyond a mere existence of a
+single stamp.
+
+For Katharine of Arragon a large panel-stamp was cut bearing her
+coat-of-arms impaled with that of England, crowned, and having two angels
+as supporters. An example of this occurs on a copy of _Whittington, De
+octo partibus orationis_, London, 1521. On the other side of the book is
+the large stamp of the king's arms already described. A similar stamp was
+used with the substitution of the arms of Queen Anne Boleyn for those of
+Queen Katharine. There is now no instance of the use of either of these
+stamps on a royal book.
+
+George Vertue, in his notes on the Fine Arts, says that small gold books
+were given to Queen Anne Boleyn's maids of honour; and he describes one of
+these little bindings which is, unfortunately, lost.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 4.--_Le Chappellet de Ihesus, MS., sixteenth century.
+Margaret Tudor._]
+
+There is, however, one exquisite golden binding in existence which may be
+something like the books mentioned, only this one is recorded as having
+been given to the queen by one of the ladies of the Wyatt family. It is at
+present the property of Lord Romney, who is himself a descendant of that
+family, in whose possession it has always been since the sixteenth
+century. It is a Book of Prayers, and measures 2-1/4 inches in length,
+1-3/8 inch in breadth, and three-quarters of an inch in thickness. The
+designs upon it are most delicate and beautiful arabesques, very nearly
+resembling designs made by Hans Holbein for jewellery. These designs are
+left in low relief, the groundwork being cut away to a slight degree and
+filled with black enamel, so that the arabesques show in gold on a black
+ground. The back is panelled and decorated in the same way, as also are
+the clasps, of which there are two. There are rings at the two lower
+edges, for the suspension of the book at the girdle. It resembles much the
+little gold book described already as having belonged to Henry VIII.,
+especially the back. It is figured and fully described in vol. xliv. of
+_Archæologia_ at p. 260.
+
+Another book which belonged to Anne Boleyn, and is said to have been with
+her on the scaffold, is in the British Museum. It is a copy of the New
+Testament in vellum, in English, printed at Antwerp in 1534 by Martin
+Emperowre. It has, unfortunately, been rebound for Mr. Cracherode, but
+still bears on its gilt and gauffred edges the words "_Anna Regina
+Angliæ_" written in red.
+
+Henry VIII. made a most unjust will, confirmed nevertheless by Parliament
+and also acted up to by Edward VI., by virtue of which the succession to
+the throne of England was settled upon the descendants of his younger
+sister Mary, instead of those of his elder sister Margaret. The three
+grand-daughters of the Princess Mary were the Ladies Jane, Katherine, and
+Mary Grey. Lady Jane Grey, indeed, did come to the throne, as she was
+crowned Queen of England on the death of Edward VI., but she enjoyed the
+dignity but a short time, as nine days afterwards she was imprisoned in
+the Tower, and on February 12, 1554, was beheaded, aged only seventeen
+years. Her sisters both died prisoners. Edward VI., wishing to secure the
+Protestant succession, had named Lady Jane Grey as his successor, but the
+Roman Catholic influence was at the time strong enough to neutralise the
+king's wishes, and the party of the Princess Mary prevailed for the
+present, the succession eventually reverting to its proper channel, the
+line of the Princess Margaret, who married James IV., King of Scotland.
+
+One volume alone remains that bears upon its binding evidence of having
+belonged to Margaret Tudor, and this is one of great beauty. It was
+presented to the British Museum in 1864 by the Earl of Home, and is a
+manuscript of prayers with miniatures of French work called _Le Chappellet
+de Ihesus et de la Vierge Marie_ (Fig. 4). It belonged first to Anna, wife
+of Ferdinand, King of the Romans in the sixteenth century. It is bound in
+green velvet and has silver clasps and bosses, partly gilt. The clasps
+have the letters "I.H.S." upon them, gilded, and the attachments of the
+clasps to the volume have the letters ANNA on them, one letter on each,
+gilded. These were evidently made for the first owner of the book. Then
+when it became the property of Queen Margaret, she added her name,
+MARGVERITE, on the sides in a very pretty manner, each letter, in silver,
+forming the centre of a double or Tudor rose, gilded. The inner rose has
+its petals smooth, and the outer one has its petals roughened, as are also
+the little leaves between each petal.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_Il Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544. Queen Katharine
+Parr._]
+
+Henry VIII.'s younger sister Mary married first Louis XII. of France, and
+afterwards Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and there is one binding in
+the British Museum, purchased in 1865, which belonged to her as Duchess of
+Suffolk. It is an Herbal printed at Frankfort in 1535, and is bound in
+dark calf, decorated with blind lines and gold stamped work. The broad
+outer border has at first sight the appearance of a roll stamp, but it is
+not actually so, the effect being produced by the successive impressions
+of a long rectangular stamp having engraved upon it a pattern which, on
+being repeated, gives the appearance of a continuous design. The design on
+this stamp is original and simple, and has no "Italian" origin at all. The
+inner panel has mitre-lines in blind at each of the angles, the points of
+junction with the outer border being covered with a fleur-de-lis, and then
+converging lines meet an inner rectangular line which encloses the royal
+coat-of-arms of England, crowned, the two upper corner-spaces being
+occupied by double roses, and the two lower by the portcullis badge and
+chains, all impressed in gold. At the sides of the inner panel are the
+initials "M. S.," presumably standing for "Mary Suffolk." The workmanship
+of this curious volume is coarse and irregular, but there is a boldness
+about it that is not without charm, and the design itself is well balanced
+and effective.
+
+Queen Katharine Parr has the reputation of having herself worked the cover
+of a copy of Petrarch printed at Venice in 1544, and bound in purple
+velvet (Fig. 5). It is embroidered in coloured silks and gold and silver
+thread. The design is a large coat-of-arms, that of Katharine herself,
+with many quarterings, the first being the coat of augmentation granted to
+her by the king. The coat is surmounted by a royal crown, but the
+supporters are those of the families of Fitzhugh and Parr; so the work was
+probably done before Katharine was married to Lord Seymour, but after the
+king's death. The work is somewhat faded, and the scroll-work in gold cord
+at the corners is pulled out of place, no doubt the result of bad
+re-covering, but altogether it is in excellent condition, and is a fine
+specimen of royal workmanship. The Princess Elizabeth worked the cover of
+_The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul_ for Queen Katharine. It is
+said to have been worked when the Princess was only eleven years old, and
+it is certainly possible as the workmanship is simple, indeed such as a
+clever girl might easily do. It is braid work of gold and silver on a blue
+silk ground. This ground is probably woven with a very large mesh, and is
+similar to that used by the Princess on the little Book of Prayers she
+worked for her father. The initials of the queen, "K. P.," occupy the
+place of honour in the centre, and are enclosed in an elaborate interlaced
+arrangement of lines and knots of braid, and in each corner, in high
+relief, is a heartsease, Elizabeth's favourite flower. The volume is now
+in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
+
+It is, moreover, an interesting proof of the learning of the Princess
+Elizabeth, as she says it was translated by herself "out of Frenche ryme
+into English prose, joyning the sentences together as well as the
+capacitie of my symple witte and small lerning coulde extende themselves,"
+and it is charmingly dedicated "To our most noble and vertuous quene
+Katherin," to whom Elizabeth, "her humble daughter, wisheth perpetuall
+felicitie and everlasting joye."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+EDWARD VI.--MARY AND ELIZABETH
+
+
+There are specimens of books bound for Edward VI. in the British Museum,
+both before and after his accession to the throne. Most, if not all of
+these, in leather, are probably the work of Thomas Berthelet, as they have
+many points in common, and he continued the "King's printer servaunt," and
+furnished him also with bindings.
+
+The earliest of these is a manuscript by Petrus Olivarius, _In Trogum
+Pompeium et in Epistolas familiares Ciceronis, Chorographica_, presented
+by the author to Prince Edward in 1546, and it bears in the centre the
+Prince of Wales' feathers within a flamed circle. A somewhat more
+elaborate binding, with the royal coat-of-arms of England within a flamed
+circle, occurs on another manuscript, a translation by William Thomas of a
+book of travels, which is also dedicated to the king. A similar design to
+this last book is found on the binding of _Xenophon, La Cyropédie_,
+printed in Paris in 1547. It is covered in rich brown calf, and each panel
+is ornamented with an interlacing fillet, coloured black, enclosing an
+inner diamond, in the centre of which is the royal coat-of-arms, with "E.
+R." and a double rose above and below. The spaces are filled with
+arabesques, cornucopiæ, and small stars. The colouring of the fillets,
+with black stain on calf, is a characteristic of Berthelet's work for
+Edward VI. and Mary. This peculiarity does not occur, as far as I know, on
+any of those he bound for Henry VIII., so it may be considered that the
+black fillets, often interlaced in a masterly way, and frequently arranged
+in semicircular forms, are evidence of the later work of this master of
+his art. At the same time, many of the smaller stamps used on these later
+volumes are found also on the earlier examples. But whereas in the
+earlier style so-called "Italian" designs are used, it appears to me that
+in his later and finer style Berthelet has given us a very noble series of
+books decorated in an original and strikingly effective manner. The
+contrast of the rich brown calf with the black of the fillets and the rich
+gold of the stamped lines and designs is often beautiful. The finest
+example of this style is to be found in the Museum copy of Cardinal
+Bembo's _Historia Veneta_, printed at Venice in 1551. It is a large book
+measuring 12 × 9 inches, and the single black fillet is most cleverly
+interlaced with corners, circles, and semicircles, in such a manner as, in
+fact, to form a triple border, in the centre of which is the royal
+coat-of-arms, itself surrounded by a line of curves finished at the ends
+with double roses and arabesques, and flanked at each side with the
+crowned initials of the king. In a circle at the upper part of the board
+is the motto "Dieu et mon droyt"; and in a corresponding circle at the
+lower part is the date "MDLII." The spaces throughout are filled with
+arabesques, cornucopiæ, double roses, and small stars. The back of the
+book is curiously arranged so as to look like the front, so that it
+appears to have no back at all.
+
+_Gualteri Deloeni Commentarius in tres prima Capitula Geneseos_, etc., a
+manuscript dedicated to Edward VI., is bound in a very delightful and
+simple manner, and one which, for a small book, is nearly perfect in
+taste. It is covered in rich brown calf, and ornamented with blind lines
+and gold--a contrast which Berthelet uses, especially on small bindings.
+The "blind" work in these cases appears to be purposely darkened, which
+can easily be done by using the tools hot, or by the addition of a little
+printer's ink. In the centre of this binding is the royal coat-of-arms
+surmounted by a crowned double rose. This is flanked by two cornucopiæ; at
+the sides of the shield itself are the king's initials, "E. R.," and under
+each of them the daisy with stalk and leaves. The same cornucopia stamp is
+used at each of the four inner corners, and each of the four outer corners
+is ornamented with a conventional floral stamp.
+
+King Edward VI. not only had his bindings stamped with his royal badges,
+but the edges also sometimes came in for a share of attention, as on a
+copy of _La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo_, printed at Venice in 1548. On
+the front or fore-edge of the book is the royal coat-of-arms of England,
+painted on a blue ground; on the upper edge is the coat-of-arms of France,
+and on the lower the golden harp of Ireland. The side space on each of
+these edges is filled up with a delicate arrangement of interlacing
+strap-work in black, and further ornamented with fine gold scrolls and the
+initials "E. S. R.," also in gold.
+
+One of Edward's books, however, has actually the first instance in an
+English book of a decorated "doublure," the name by which we understand
+the inner side of the boards of a book.
+
+Mr. Herbert Horne, in his most excellent work on the _Binding of Books_,
+mentions, and gives a plate of, an instance of this kind of decoration
+occurring on a copy of Petrarch, printed at Venice in 1532. It is an
+arrangement of interlaced lines of silver with two figured stamps, and is
+said to be the earliest European example. Edward VI.'s doublure (Fig. 6)
+is not much later, as it was probably bound about 1547, and, like nearly
+all doublures, it is in a wonderful state of preservation; in fact, it may
+be said to be the only instance of a sixteenth-century painted book that
+is at all in its original state, as the pigment used upon them is
+extremely delicate, and chips off freely. The book, a small duodecimo, is
+covered in crimson velvet, much worn, and is a collection of "certeine
+prayers and godly meditacyons," printed at Malborow in 1538. The inner
+side of each of the boards is covered with calf, and the design is
+outlined in gold and filled in with colour. This colour is not quite like
+oil-paint, but resembles closely the "enamel" colours which have of late
+years been so well known. It has little penetrating quality, lying evenly
+on the top of the leather, and dries with an even and polished surface.
+The king's arms, crowned, occupy the centre of the board, the arms in the
+correct heraldic colours and the crown of gold, silver, blue, and green.
+The king's initials, stamped in gold, are on each side of the shield. A
+rectangular border of green encloses the coat-of-arms, and at each of the
+inner corners is a daisy in gold, and above and below the arms is a
+semicircular projection from the green border, coloured blue.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 6.--_Prayers, etc. Malborow, 1538 (Doublure). Edward
+VI._]
+
+There is yet another volume which for many years has been by the British
+Museum authorities attributed to Edward VI., but Mr. W. Y. Fletcher, in
+his splendid volume on the _English Bookbindings in the British Museum_,
+considers it to be Elizabethan. There is no doubt that the volume in some
+ways fits a description of one that was presented to that queen by the
+University of Oxford at Woodstock in 1575, but I think the difference in
+the dates of printing and presentation is a weak point in the argument.
+The book was printed in 1544 at Zurich, and it certainly seems curious
+that a book printed thirty-one years before should be offered as a present
+to a reigning sovereign. So for the present I shall adhere to its former
+description in the show-case in the King's Library, and describe it here
+in its place as having been bound for Edward VI. It is covered in green
+velvet, with a border parallel to the sides stamped in gold and bearing
+the legends, "ESTO FIDELIS USQUE AD MORTEM ET DABO TIBI CORONAM
+VITÆ--APOC. 2" on one side, and on the other "FIDEM SERVAVI QVOD SVPEREST
+REPOSITA EST MIHI CORONA JVSTITIÆ--2 TIM. 4." In the centre of each cover
+is the royal coat-of-arms enclosed within a Garter, crowned, appliqué in
+pieces of coloured silk and stamped in gold, beautifully designed and
+beautifully executed, and the first instance of velvet or silk stamped in
+gold that is known to me. On the gilt edges designs are stamped, or
+"gauffred" as it is called, and painted. On the front edge the arms of the
+University of Oxford. On the upper edge a crowned Tudor rose with the
+initials E. R., and on the lower a portcullis with the same initials.
+There are other instances where the similarity between the emblems and
+initials of these two sovereigns, Edward VI. and Elizabeth, causes
+considerable doubt as to which of them was actually the owner, and I think
+that generally the date of the printing of such books must be considered
+as some authority, although among the arguments for or against the
+attribution of a binding to any particular owner, or author, it may be
+said that the date of the printing of the book must generally be esteemed
+at a small value.
+
+A book which has some of the peculiarities of Berthelet's work upon it is
+found in a copy of Bude's _Commentarii Linguæ Græcæ_, printed at Paris in
+1548. It is covered in calf, and has a rectangular border running parallel
+with the edges of the boards on each side. This border is coloured black,
+but it has the uncommon addition of stamped arabesques in gold upon this
+black. At the outer corners are arabesques in outline, and in the inner
+corners double roses stamped in gold. In the centre a framework of two
+interlaced squares, stained black, enclose the royal coat-of-arms and
+initials.
+
+The same workman who executed this binding also made one for Queen Mary,
+which I shall describe further on.
+
+At Windsor there is a fine little binding on a copy of _Strena Galteri
+Deloeni: ex capite Geneseos quarto deprompta_, etc. It is bound in white
+leather, and ornamented with the royal coat-of-arms in the centre, flanked
+by the letters "E. R.," and surrounded by a scattered arrangement of
+double roses, daisies, cornucopiæ, and stars, all enclosed in a small
+decorated border. It is probably by Berthelet, and is in excellent
+condition. In the British Museum there are instances of bindings in white
+leather made for Henry VIII. and for Mary, but there is no instance of one
+made for Edward VI., so that this Windsor binding is of considerable
+interest apart from its beauty.
+
+A copy of Herodotus' and Thucydides' works, bound together in one cover,
+belonged most likely to Edward VI. It is part of the old royal library,
+and is bound in brown calf, with a broad outer border of Italian character
+enclosing the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, within a flamed circle. The
+flamed circle first occurs, as may have been noted, on the volumes bound
+for Edward when Prince of Wales, and it is afterwards used on several of
+his later volumes, and also on many that were bound for Queen Mary. What
+the meaning of this flamed circle is I have not been able to conjecture,
+it may possibly only be intended for ornament. Berthelet, doubtless, liked
+to use circles or parts of circles on his bindings, and in this taste he
+was following the lead of much more ancient English binders, as the circle
+is characteristic of the splendid blind stamped English work of the
+twelfth and thirteenth centuries.
+
+Thomas Berthelet died, according to an entry in the Stationers' Company
+Register, in 1556. So that it is just possible he bound books for Queen
+Mary. But I think that Berthelet was quickly copied, and it is very easy
+to copy the style or even the actual stamps of any binder; and if the
+binding of Cardinal Bembo's _History of Venice_ be taken as a test example
+of Berthelet's best work, which I think it fairly may be, it will be seen
+that although Mary's bindings have some points of resemblance there are
+also many wide differences. Berthelet avowedly acknowledged the beauty of
+Italian originals, but I do not find that he actually copied any one of
+them, and he, moreover, very soon left them behind. There is a certain
+recrudescence of this Italian manner distinctly apparent in many of the
+books bound for Queen Mary, and I imagine this to be the work, not of
+Berthelet himself, but of one of his imitators or successors, or perhaps
+one of his own workmen.
+
+A good example of this Italian-English style is found on the binding of
+the _Epitome omnium operum Divi Aurelii Augusti_, etc., printed at Cologne
+in 1549. A very handsome broad border containing an elaborate arabesque is
+parallel to the edges of the boards. This encloses an inner black fillet
+interlaced with a diamond, in the middle of which is the royal
+coat-of-arms within a flamed circle, and at each side, in the angles
+formed by the intersection of the diamond points and the inner rectangular
+lines, are the initials M. R. The spaces throughout are filled in with
+arabesques, single roses, and circles.
+
+A very similar design occurs on the binding of a manuscript poem by Myles
+Haggard, addressed to the queen, and another on a copy of Bonner's
+_Profitable Doctrine_, printed in London in 1555.
+
+Entirely different in manner of decoration is the binding of the
+_Commentary on the New Testament_, in Latin, by Aurelius Augustinus,
+printed at Basle in 1542, and which came to the British Museum as part of
+the old royal library. It is covered in white leather, and ornamented with
+gold tooling of a very elaborate kind. A broad inner rectangular panel,
+broken outwards at each side, contains a diamond, and the spaces in and
+about these leading lines are filled with arabesques, royal arms, and
+royal emblems, roses, fleurs-de-lis, and portcullises. Although the
+general design of the original decoration of this book has doubtless been
+preserved, it has been grievously tampered with, and no reliance can be
+put on any of the small detail work now existing upon it--a most unlucky
+circumstance, as it is unlike any other royal book in the general
+arrangement of its ornamentation, and so of special interest.
+
+So again different, but in a much less important manner, is the little
+calf binding of a _Livre faisant mention de sept parolles que N. S.
+Jesuchrist dit en l'arbre de la croix_, printed at Paris in 1545, and
+bound for Queen Mary. It is decorated with blind and gold lines, and
+dotted all about in the most reckless manner with M's and I's, meaning
+doubtless Mary the First. In the centre of each cover there is a knot, the
+same knot exactly as is used in the sculptures on our Houses of Parliament
+to tie together the initials V. R. of our present Most Gracious Queen, and
+surrounding the knot are four M's. The I's are down the edge of the boards
+nearest to the back. The little book is of great interest, as it never
+could have been in any way a State copy, but was most likely a favourite
+book of the queen's, and so decorated with her initials only--leaving
+heraldry for once out of the scheme.
+
+The most splendid of the books that Queen Mary has left for us to admire
+is a manuscript of Psalms and Hymns in Latin and French of very beautiful
+workmanship, known as Queen Mary's Psalter. It came to the British Museum
+with the old royal library. It is bound in crimson velvet and has gilt
+clasps and corners, and on each side a large piece of embroidery appliqué.
+This embroidery is much worn; it is on canvas, and some of it is actually
+gone, but it seems to have been a conventional pomegranate, and this is
+all the more likely as such a design would have been a probable one for
+Queen Mary to use, as she had an excuse to do so by virtue of her mother's
+right to the emblem of Arragon. The clasps are engraved with the dragon,
+lion, portcullis, and fleur-de-lis, and in spite of the damage done to the
+volume by time and wear, it is still a splendid specimen of magnificent
+binding. By an inscription at the end of the volume we are informed that
+it was rescued from the hands of some seamen who were preparing to carry
+it abroad by "Baldwin Smith," who presented it to Queen Mary in 1553.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 7.--_Queen Mary's Psalter, MS._]
+
+A book of hours in illuminated manuscript is beautifully bound for Queen
+Mary, and is finished in an unusually delicate manner. It is in calf, and
+has blind and gold lines. An outer border has stamps within it at
+intervals, in a similar style to one already described as having belonged
+to Edward VI. In the centre of the book is a delicate stamp of the royal
+coat-of-arms with the letters M. R.
+
+At Stonyhurst College is preserved Queen Mary's own _Horæ in laudeum
+Beatissimæ Virginis Marie_, Lugduni, 1558. It is covered in figured red
+velvet projecting over the boards at the lower edges, and with small
+tassels at each corner. On the lower cover is the crowned coat-of-arms in
+silver, enamelled in the proper colours. Single ornamental letters
+R.E.G.I.N.A. are arranged in couples in three lines round it. On the upper
+board are the letters M.A.R.I.A., also in silver. The first two at the two
+top corners, the R crowned in the middle, and the two last letters in the
+two lower corners. The R in the centre is flanked by a double rose and the
+pomegranate of Arragon, both in silver. There are two silver clasps of
+ornamental pattern. It was shown at the Burlington Fine Arts Club
+Exhibition on Bookbindings in 1891, and there is a fine plate of it in
+their Illustrated Catalogue.
+
+The bindings of Edward VI. and Mary, having as a chief ornament the
+English coat-of-arms, nevertheless bear with them no supporters. Henry
+VII. and Henry VIII., until 1528, used the same supporters, the dragon on
+the dexter side and the white greyhound on the sinister; and when Henry
+VIII. made a change and adopted the crowned lion as one of his supporters,
+he omitted the greyhound and changed the side of the dragon, so that his
+successors bore as their supporters a lion crowned on the dexter side and
+the red dragon on the sinister, and so they occur on several Elizabethan
+bindings.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 8.--_Prayers, etc. London, 1574-1591. Queen
+Elizabeth._]
+
+The bindings executed for Queen Elizabeth may be conveniently divided into
+three classes--those bound in, or ornamented with, gold; those bound in
+velvet or embroidered; and those bound in leather. In this order I shall
+describe them. The gold, as far as I know it, is always enamelled, the
+velvet is generally embroidered, and the leather is frequently inlaid with
+other and differently coloured leathers. The peculiarity of sunken panels,
+borrowed apparently through the early Italian bindings from Oriental
+originals, is a remarkable speciality of Elizabethan work; as is also the
+first use of large corner-stamps to any extent. There certainly are
+instances of corner-stamps on Henry VIII. bindings, but they are rare;
+whereas with Elizabeth and her immediate successors the use of such stamps
+is very usual. The finest, as well as the most interesting, of the golden
+books made for Elizabeth is one containing prayers and devotional pieces
+by Lady Elizabeth Tyrwhitt, printed for Chris Barker, London, 1574. It
+also contains the queen's prayers, a collection out of other works, and
+part of an Almanack for 1583-91 (Fig. 8). In 1790 it belonged to the Rev.
+Mr. Ashley, and it was presented to the British Museum in 1894 by Sir
+Wollaston Franks. It measures 2-1/4 inches by 1-3/4. On each side is a
+sunken panel, round which is a flat border containing texts from
+Scripture, engraved and run in with black enamel. The upper cover of the
+book has a representation in gold of the serpent in the wilderness and the
+stricken Israelites. The serpent on the tree and others on the ground, and
+the figures of the people, are all carved in very high relief, and
+enamelled in colours; the flesh being represented by white. The serpents
+are in blue. Round this design are the words "MAKE · THE · AFYRYE ·
+SERPENT · AN · SETIT · VP · FORA · SYGNE · THATAS · MANY · ASARE · BYTTE ·
+MAYELOKE · VPONIT · AN · LYVE+." On the lower cover a similar panel
+contains a representation of the judgment of Solomon, worked in a similar
+way. Round this runs the legend, "THEN · THE · KYNG · ANSVERED · AN · SAYD
+· GYVE · HER · THE · LYVYNG · CHILD · AN · SLAYETNOT · FOR · SHEIS ·
+THEMOTHER · THEROF--1 K. 3 C+." The back is divided into four panels, each
+of which has a delicate and graceful arabesque engraved and run in with
+black enamel, as also have the two clasps. There are two rings at the top,
+in order that the book might be worn at the girdle. There is no real
+record as to who worked this enamel, but it is credited to George Heriot,
+afterwards goldsmith and banker to James I., and founder of the George
+Heriot Hospital at Edinburgh. It is in very good condition, and but little
+of the enamel has chipped off. It is now preserved in the Gold Room at the
+British Museum. It is the only one of Elizabeth's golden books that is
+worked in high relief, and such work is undoubtedly of the greatest
+rarity.
+
+For actual beauty of workmanship, it would be difficult to find any
+specimen of finer execution than that which occurs on the binding of a
+little volume of Christian meditations in Latin printed in 1570, and bound
+in rose-coloured velvet, with clasps, centre-pieces, and corners all
+bearing delicate champlevé enamel-work on gold (Fig. 9). The book is quite
+a small one, measuring 5 × 3-1/4 inches, and the workmanship on the gold
+is of corresponding delicacy. In the centre of each cover a thin diamond
+of gold is fixed, the outline being broken in each case by a series of
+small decorative curves. Each diamond is further ornamented with the Tudor
+rose, ensigned with the royal crown, and flanked by the initials E. R. The
+rose is red with small green leaves, the cup of the crown is blue, and the
+initials are in black enamel. The whole of the vandyked edge of the
+diamond is bordered with a thin line of blue enamel, and the remaining
+spaces are filled up with small floral sprays having green leaves and red
+and blue flowers. The corner-pieces are ornamented in a similar way with
+set patterns of arabesques and flowers in red, blue, green, and yellow
+enamels, as also are the clasps. These enamels are all what is called
+translucent, and many of the colours are remarkable for their brilliancy
+and beauty, as well as for the skill with which they are used. The
+engraving of the gold plate, which is filled by these enamels, is also of
+remarkable beauty. George Heriot again is credited with this work, with
+perhaps some show of probability.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 9.--_Christian Meditations, in Latin, 1570. Queen
+Elizabeth._]
+
+One more book in the British Museum has champlevé enamels upon it,
+evidently by the same workman. It is a New Testament in Greek printed at
+Paris in 1550. It is now bound in green velvet,--but this probably was the
+original material in which it was covered,--and in the centre of each of
+the boards is a diamond-shaped panel of gold, 2-3/4 inches in length and
+2-1/4 in breadth (Plate II.) Judging from the analogy of the smaller book
+just described, there probably were originally corners and clasps to this
+book, but they are now gone. Each of the diamonds has originally borne
+rich-coloured enamels, but by far the greater part of this has chipped
+off, only small pieces remaining here and there in corners. On the upper
+cover the diamond contains the royal coat-of-arms of England, surrounded
+with floral sprays, roses, and flies. The diamond on the lower cover of
+the book has a red rose, crowned, contained in a circular border, the
+spaces within and without the circle being filled with similar sprays to
+those upon the other side. Among them are acorns and flies again. The
+delicate engraving on the gold of both these diamonds can be very well
+studied, as the marks of the engraving are easily apparent.
+
+Paul Heutzner visited England in 1598, and examined the royal library at
+Whitehall. In his _Itinerarium_ he says: "The books were all bound in
+velvet of different colours, chiefly red, with clasps of gold and silver,
+some having pearls and precious stones set in their bindings." It is
+rather curious he should have mentioned red, because, although there are
+many books in velvet that were bound for Queen Elizabeth, the only one I
+know of in red is the little volume described above, all the rest being in
+green, black, or purple. Dibdin, in his _Bibliomania_, says that Princess
+Elizabeth, when she was a prisoner at Woodstock in 1555, worked a cover of
+a little book which is now in the Bodleian Library at Oxford. It now
+contains a small copy of the Epistles of St. Paul printed by Barker in
+1578, so that, if Dibdin is right in saying that Elizabeth worked it when
+she was at Woodstock, it cannot have been worked for the book it now
+covers. Certainly, the embroidered portion has been at some time or other
+relaid in its present position, and considerable damage has resulted from
+the operation. Inside is a note in Elizabeth's handwriting, in which she
+says: "I walke manie times into the pleasant fieldes of the Holye
+Scriptures, where I plucke up the goodlie green herbes of sentences by
+pruning, eate them by reading, chawe them by musing, and laie them up at
+length in the hie seat of memorie by gathering them together, so that
+having tasted thy swetenes, I may the less perceave the bitterness of this
+miserable life." The material is, or was, black velvet, but the pile is
+entirely gone, except in a few protected corners. The design is outlined
+in silver cord, and the raised portions are worked with silver guimp. An
+outer border, with lettering, encloses in each case a central design. The
+motto on the border of the upper cover reads, "CELUM PATRIA SCOPUS VITÆ X
+P V S. CHRISTUS VIA, CHRISTO VIVE." That round the lower cover, "BEATUS
+QUI DIVITIAS SCRIPTURÆ LEGENS VERBA VERTIT IN OPERA." Within the border,
+on the upper cover, is a ribbon arranged in a long oval bearing the words
+"ELEVA COR SURSUM IBI UBI E. C. (_i.e._ est Christus)." The E and the C
+are in larger type, and between them is a heart in raised work, through
+which passes a stem, the lower end of which has two small leaves and the
+top a flower. On the lower cover a similar ribbon bears the words "VICIT
+OMNIA PERTINAX VIRTUS E. C." These two last letters, Dibdin says, means
+"Elizabetha Captiva," in support of his theory that it was worked by her
+at Woodstock. In the centre of the oval on this lower cover is an
+eight-petalled flower with stem and two leaves. The record of this book is
+remarkably clear. But, besides this, there is little doubt, judging it by
+other work of Queen Elizabeth, that it was executed and probably designed
+by herself. All the books credited to her with any show of probability are
+worked in braid or thick cord, and the designs on each are of a simple
+character.
+
+The most decorative of all the embroidered books worked for Queen
+Elizabeth is now, unfortunately, in the worst condition of any of them. It
+is a copy of Bishop Christopherson's _Historia Ecclesiastica_, Louvanii,
+1569, divided into three volumes, each measuring about 6 inches by 3-1/2.
+It is covered in green velvet, and each side is ornamented in the same
+way. In the centre a long oval shield, appliqué, in silks of the proper
+colour. The bearings, worked in gold thread, are enclosed in an oval of
+pink satin studded with a row of small pearls. Surrounding this is a
+decorative Elizabethan border worked in gold thread and pearls. The rest
+of the board is closely covered with a rich design of arabesques and roses
+in gold cord and guimp, the roses being "Tudor," with red silk centres and
+pearl outer petals, and "York," worked entirely with small seed pearls.
+The narrow outer border, formed by an interlacing ribbon outlined in gold
+cord, has an inner row of seed pearls along its entire length; and many of
+the spaces all over the side of the book have small single seed pearls in
+them. The back is divided into five panels, bearing alternately white and
+Tudor roses of the same kind of work as those on the sides of the book,
+only on a larger scale. There have also been many supplementary pearls on
+the back of the book. A large majority of the pearls are unfortunately now
+missing, as is also a great part of the gold cord, so that the above
+description is in fact a restoration. But every pearl and every piece of
+cord that is wanting has left a distinct impression on the velvet.
+
+One of the most celebrated of all embroidered books done in England was
+executed for Queen Elizabeth. It is a large book measuring 10 inches by 7,
+and is an account by Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, _De
+antiqvitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ_, etc. It was privately printed by John
+Day at Lambeth Palace in 1572 for the Archbishop, being the first book of
+the kind issued in England. It is supposed to have been a presentation
+copy to the queen. It is covered in deep green velvet. On both covers the
+outer border is worked in gold, in a pattern resembling a wooden park
+paling, and it is probable that each side is meant to represent a park,
+thereby indicating the author's name of Parker. Within this paling on the
+upper cover is a design of a large rose-tree with Tudor roses, and Yorkist
+and Lancastrian roses, all growing upon it. Besides these flowers there
+are heartsease, daisies, carnations, and others whose species is difficult
+to determine. In the four corners of the "park" are four deer, their eyes
+being indicated with little black beads, some gambolling, some feeding,
+and on the groundwork are many grass-tufts of gold thread. The central
+design on the under cover is not by any means so fine. It has several
+plants scattered about it. There are two snakes brilliantly worked in gold
+and silver cord and coloured silks, and five deer like those on the other
+side. Originally there were red silk ribbons to tie the book together
+at the front edges, but there is only a trace of them now left. The back
+is divided into five panels, bearing alternately white and Tudor roses,
+with leaves, stems, and buds. It is said that Archbishop Parker kept in
+his own house "painters ... writers, and bookbinders," so it is very
+likely that this book was bound under his own eyes. It is said that only
+twenty copies of it were printed, and that no two were alike. It contains
+the biographies of sixty-nine Archbishops, but not Parker's own. This
+omission was afterwards supplied by the publication of a little satirical
+tract, in 1574, entitled _Histriola, a little Storye of the Actes and Life
+of Matthew, now Archbishop of Canterbury_. The two title-pages and the
+leaf with the Archbishops' coats-of-arms are vellum, and the woodcuts,
+borders, and arms throughout the volume are emblazoned in gold and
+colours. It is now part of the old royal collection in the British Museum.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 10.--_Parker. De antiqvitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ.
+London, 1572. Queen Elizabeth._]
+
+A small copy of the New Testament in Greek, printed at Leyden in 1576, is
+covered in white ribbed silk, and embroidered in gold, for Queen
+Elizabeth. Each board has the same pattern upon it; in the centre the
+royal arms of England, ensigned with the crown, and surrounded by the
+Garter, in both of which are inserted several seed pearls. This is
+surrounded by an irregular border of thick gold cord, interlaced, in which
+are leafy sprays of single and double roses. The arrangement of this
+border is admirably designed. The colours of the arms, the Garter, and the
+red roses are painted, probably in water-colours, on the silk itself--the
+earliest specimen of such work that is known to me. From the delicacy of
+the material on which the embroidery is done, and the high projection of
+many of the threads, the book has evidently got into very bad condition at
+a remote period; and it has been entrusted to some one to repair, who has
+removed all the original binding and re-inlaid it on new boards, the
+result being that he has increased the damage already existing.
+
+A little book, _Orationis Dominicæ Explicatio, per Lambertum Danaeum_,
+printed at Geneva in 1583, is covered in black velvet, and ornamented with
+a very effective design, worked with broad gold cord (Fig. 11). An outer
+arabesque border, having also flowers of silver guimp, encloses an inner
+panel which has two white roses in the centre, and a red rose in each of
+the inner corners. Each of these roses has a little green leaf at the
+junction of the petals, and they are apparently outlined with silver
+thread. It is, however, often difficult with old books to say for certain
+whether a thread has been gold or silver, as the gold cord has a tendency
+to wear white, and the silver cord often turns yellow. The contrast of
+colour on this little book is very charming even now, and it must have
+been particularly beautiful when it was first done. It has the remains of
+ties at the front edges of red silk and gold cord.
+
+There is another embroidered book belonging to the old royal collection in
+the British Museum that seems to have been bound for Queen Elizabeth. It
+is a copy of _The Common Places of Dr. Peter Martyr_, translated by
+Anthonie Marten, printed in London in 1583, and dedicated to the queen. It
+is covered in blue purple velvet, and ornamented with silver wire and
+guimp. There is an outer border formed of double lines, made easily and
+effectively by means of a spiral wire flattened down, giving the
+appearance of small overlaid rings. This border encloses a series of
+clusters, formed with stitches of silver guimp, arranged in a basket-work
+pattern. In the centre is an ornament of diamond shape, outlined with the
+same silver-wire edge and enclosing again the basket-work design, and the
+four inner corners are filled up with quarter circles of the same work.
+The book has been rebacked, and it is not in very good condition; but the
+effect of the silver on the deep purple ground still has a very admirable
+effect. The broad gilt edges are very handsomely and elaborately decorated
+with gauffred work of Elizabethan character.
+
+A Bible, printed in London in 1583, was embroidered and bound for Queen
+Elizabeth, and presented to her in 1584, and is now in the Bodleian
+Library at Oxford. It is a folio book, measuring almost 17 × 12 inches,
+and is bound in crimson velvet. Upon each board is a very graceful design
+of rose-branches, intertwined. There are four large roses and two smaller
+ones, all embroidered in silver and gold braid and coloured threads, with
+here and there a few small pearls. A narrow border runs round the edge,
+embroidered in gold thread and coloured silk.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 11.--_Orationis Dominicæ Explicatio, per L. Danaeum.
+Genevae, 1583. Queen Elizabeth._]
+
+A remarkable binding on calf, executed for Queen Elizabeth, is on a large
+Bible printed at Lyons, measuring 16-1/2 inches by 11, each board being
+double (Fig. 12). The upper board is pierced in several places, showing
+underneath it a lower level covered with green calf, and decorated with
+small stars and arabesques. The upper boards on both sides of the book are
+elaborately stamped in gold and painted in enamel colours, and in each
+case an oval, painted panel occupies the centre. The upper cover of the
+book has in the central oval a charming sunk miniature portrait of
+Elizabeth as a young woman, dressed in jewelled robes and head-dress, and
+carrying a sword or sceptre. The portrait is enclosed in a very delicately
+painted frame of jewelled goldsmith's work. This painting is unfortunately
+damaged, especially in the face, and it seems to be executed in opaque
+water-colours, varnished, on vellum. Immediately round the miniature, on
+the leather, is a very elaborately painted and gilded oval ribbon with the
+words "ELIZABETH DEI GRATIA ANG. FRAN. HIB. REGINA." The broad, irregular,
+oval border itself has a design of interlacing fillets and floral emblems
+of considerable beauty, winged horses and Cupids, all picked out in
+colours. This very large stamp, measuring 9 inches in length, which is now
+and then found on books other than royal, is the largest English stamp
+known to me. There are cartouches left in the upper leather above and
+below this central arrangement, and they are of a similar ornamentation
+and colour, as are also the very handsome corners. The other side of the
+book is similarly decorated, with the differences that the centre
+painting, by the same hand, is the royal coat-of-arms of England in an
+egg-shaped, oval form, surrounded by the Garter, within an Elizabethan
+scroll. Over the crown is a canopy of green and red, and the supporters of
+the lion and red dragon are in their proper places. Underneath the coat is
+the motto "DIEU ET MON DROIT" on an ornamental panel, and the legend
+lettered on the leather immediately surrounding the painting reads "POSUI
+DEUM ADIVTOREM MEUM." On the lower cartouche on this side is the date of
+the binding, "MDLXVIII." This binding, when new, must have been one of the
+finest and most elaborately decorated of any of the leather bindings made
+for an English sovereign. The back of the volume, nearly 5 inches in
+width, is also very finely ornamented with an Elizabethan pattern outlined
+in gold and coloured in keeping with the rest of the ornamental work. Its
+present condition is unfortunate. The restorations, which have been
+largely added, have, however, the merit of being at once apparent, as
+little or no trouble has been in this case taken to reproduce the old
+stamps. The gilt edges are beautifully gauffred, and are picked out here
+and there with colour. The design is a complicated arabesque with masks,
+and on the lower edge a curious design of an animal resembling a unicorn.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 12.--_La Saincte Bible. Lyon, 1566. Queen Elizabeth._]
+
+One more beautiful book in the old royal collection that belonged to
+Elizabeth has double boards. The outer edges on this instance are
+interesting, as there is, in fact, an elongated head-band running along
+their entire length and joining the edges of the two boards. It is covered
+in very dark morocco, and decorated in blind and gold stamped work. In the
+centre of each cover is a sunk oval medallion, on which is painted the
+royal coat-of-arms of England, surrounded by the Garter; the two
+supporters holding up the crown in their paws. Flanking the crown are the
+letters E. R. The motto "DIEU ET MON DROIT" is on a red panel with a blue
+border at the lower portion of the oval, and the groundwork of the whole
+is silver. The medallion is enclosed in a richly designed broad border of
+strap-work, enriched with dots and arabesques, all in gold. Towards the
+upper and lower corners are four silver double roses with gold crowns. In
+each corner is a quarter circle of vellum, pierced and richly gilded in a
+pattern of strap-work and floral sprays. All the foregoing is enclosed in
+a border of blind work, and an outer edging ornamented with a succession
+of small set stamps. There are traces of green ribbons, both on the front
+edges of the book and at the upper and lower edges. It is a copy of _Les
+Qvatre Premiers Livres des Navigations et Peregrinations Orientales de N.
+De Nicolay_, printed at Lyons in 1568, and probably bound at the same
+time. The book is especially remarkable for its vellum corners, which are
+actually inlaid; that is to say, a corresponding piece of morocco is cut
+out and replaced by the vellum. This process, which, of course, adds
+immensely to the power of a binder in decorating the outside of a book, is
+one which, so far as I am aware, does not occur before on any English
+binding. It is a fashion that was much followed in the next century both
+by French and English binders. In the great majority of instances,
+however, the added leather is not actually inlaid, but only scraped or cut
+very thin, and superimposed. The remarkable manner in which the two last
+books described are made up with double boards is worthy of special
+notice, and has not, I think, ever been used since on any sumptuous
+binding. The fashion is one, nevertheless, which was much used with great
+effect on fine Italian bindings made towards the end of the fifteenth
+century, and there are two books of this kind that belonged to Elizabeth,
+and were bound for her in Italy after the "Italian fashion," now in the
+British Museum. Vellum inlays for Queen Elizabeth occur in their finest
+form on a presentation copy from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury,
+of _Hores Historiarvm, per Matthævm Westmonasteriensem Collecti_, etc.,
+printed in London in 1570. It is probable that this volume was bound in
+Archbishop Parker's own house. It is covered in calf, and the centre,
+border, angles, and side-pieces are inlaid in white vellum, and richly
+stamped in gold. The actual centre of the boards has the royal
+coat-of-arms of England, with crown and Garter stamped in gold, enclosed
+in a vellum oval of strap-work and arabesques, with the letters E. R. at
+the sides. The inner parallelogram has large corners stamped in gold, and
+is edged with a black fillet, the entire field on the calf being decorated
+with a semée of triple dots. The book has two gilded clasps, and the edges
+of the leaves are gilt, gauffred, and painted. A small panel on each of
+the angle-pieces, which are otherwise ornamented with designs of military
+trophies, drums, trumpets, shields, swords, and cuirasses, bears the
+initials "J. D. P." These letters are supposed to mean John Day, Printer.
+John Day printed books at Lambeth for Archbishop Parker; and these
+corner-pieces do occur on books printed by him and bound in a very similar
+way to the volume now described, so there is some show of probability in
+the interpretation. A field covered with a succession of impressions from
+the same stamp has no name in English, but in France it is known as a
+"semée," its use having come into fashion in that country a little earlier
+than the date of this book.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 13.--_Gospels in Anglo-Saxon and English. London,
+1571. Queen Elizabeth._]
+
+A smaller example, with centre-piece and angle inlays only, in all other
+ways exactly resembling the book just described, was printed in London,
+1571 (Fig. 13). It is a copy of the Gospels printed by John Day, and is
+the dedication copy, as is stated in a MS. note on the
+title-page--"Presented to the Queen's own hands by Mr. Fox."
+
+A copy, printed in London in 1575, of Grant's _Græcæ Linguæ Spicilegium_
+is covered in brown calf, and was bound for the queen. It has large
+corners stamped in gold from set stamps. In the centre it bears a fine
+stamp of the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, and surrounded by the Garter,
+and decorated with Elizabethan scrolls. The remainder of the groundwork is
+covered with a semée of small roses. Among the old royal manuscripts is a
+curious book, _Scholarum Etonensis ovatio de adventu Reginæ Elizabethæ_,
+1563, covered in white vellum and stamped in gold. It bears in the centre
+the royal coat-of-arms enclosed in an oval ornamented border, and has
+large corner-pieces impressed from a set stamp, the field having a semée
+of small stars. The work upon this binding is of a curiously unfinished
+character, and it is probably the work of some unskilled local workman.
+The gilt edges are gauffred in a floral design, with some white colour
+here and there.
+
+Anne Boleyn bore, as one of her many devices, a very decorative one of a
+crowned falcon holding a sceptre, standing on a pedestal, out of which is
+growing a rose-bush bearing white and red blossoms (Fig. 14). This badge
+occurs first in an illuminated initial letter to her patent of the
+Marquisate of Pembroke, and at her coronation, in a pageant at Whitehall,
+an image of the falcon played a prominent part. The origin of it is not
+very clear, but it may have been derived from the crest of Ormond, a white
+falcon, which is placed under the head of the Earl of Wiltshire, Queen
+Anne's father, on his tomb. It was in turn adopted by Queen Elizabeth, and
+was exhibited on the occasion of her visit to Norwich, in 1578, as her own
+badge; and it occurs also on the iron railing on her tomb in Henry VII.'s
+chapel. The queen bore it on several of her simpler bindings impressed in
+the centre of each board, with usually a small acorn spray at each corner.
+There are several books ornamented like this in the library of Westminster
+Abbey, and there are examples at Windsor. The British Museum possesses
+few, the best example being a copy of Justinus' _Trogi Pompeii Historiarum
+Philippicarum epitoma_, etc., printed at Paris in 1581. It originally had
+two ties at the front edge. At Windsor a few bindings of Elizabeth's are
+still preserved; among them, a copy of Paynell's _Conspiracie of Catiline_
+is bound in white leather, and bears the royal arms within a decorative
+border. It has large corners impressed by a set stamp, and has a semée of
+small flowers. A copy of Spenser's _Faerie Queene_, printed in London in
+1590, also in the Windsor Library, bears in the centre a crowned double
+rose, in the centre of which is a portcullis, and E. B. at each side of
+it. The crowned rose was a favourite design with Elizabethan bookbinders;
+but unless there be corroborative evidence of royal possession, I do not
+think that the existence of this stamp is of itself a sufficient proof of
+such exalted ownership.
+
+Mr. Andrew Tuer, in his admirable _History of the Horn-Book_, gives a
+figure of one which was exhibited in the Tudor Exhibition in 1890, where
+it was described as the _Horn-Book of Queen Elizabeth_. It is said to have
+been given by the queen to Lord Chancellor Egerton of Tatton, and it has
+been preserved in his family ever since. The letterpress is covered with a
+sheet of talc, and the back and handle are ornamented with graceful silver
+filigree work, that on the back being underlaid with red silk. Mr. Tuer
+thinks that the type used on this _Horn-Book_ resembles some used by John
+Day, the printer already mentioned; and if so, it is not altogether
+unlikely that Archbishop Parker himself may have presented this beautiful
+toy to the queen, as well as the more serious works in velvet and inlaid
+leather.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 14.--_Centre stamp from Trogi Pompeii Historiarum
+Philippicarum epitoma. Parisiis, 1581._]
+
+Although Mary Queen of Scots was not directly one of the sovereigns of
+England, yet she is so intimately connected with them, both by her
+ancestry, her own history, and her descendants, that the few bindings
+remaining that belonged to her may well be included among these I am now
+describing. The bindings that were done for her when she was Dauphiness,
+or Queen, of France, are, like the Scottish ones, of great rarity. These
+French bindings are always bound in black, and very often have black
+edges; and the only two bindings known to me that belonged to her when
+Queen of Scotland are in such dark calf that it is almost black also. The
+first and finest of these volumes is a copy of the _Black Acts_, printed
+at Edinburgh, 1576. It is called _Black Acts_ from the character of the
+type, and is a collection of the Acts and Constitutions of Scotland in
+force during the reigns of the Jameses and Mary herself. The outer border
+on each side of the book is impressed in gold, and consists of a broad
+arabesque design. Within this border is a representation of the full
+coat-of-arms of Scotland--a lion rampant, within a tressure flory
+counter-flory. The tressure should be double, but in this instance it is
+single. The lion and the tressure are coloured red. Dependent from the
+shield is the collar and badge of the Order of St. Andrew. A royal helmet,
+crowned, is placed above the shield, and has a handsome mantling, coloured
+yellow. On the crown is the crest of Scotland--a crowned lion sejant,
+holding in one paw a sceptre and in the other a sword. The lion is
+coloured red. The ancient supporters of Scotland, two white unicorns, are
+at each side of the shield; each bears a collar shaped like a coronet,
+with a long chain. Two standards are supported behind the shield; one
+bears the coat-of-arms of Scotland, and the other St. Andrew's Cross, both
+being in their proper colours. Across the top of these standards is a
+white scroll bearing the words "IN DEFENSE," and on similar scrolls just
+above the heads of the unicorns are the words "MARIA REGINA." There are a
+few thistles in outline scattered about. The workmanship of this piece of
+decoration is unlike that on any other book I know. It is what is called
+all "made up" by a series of impressions from small stamps, curves, and
+lines, and in places it seems to be done by hand by means of some sort of
+style drawn along on the leather, the mark being afterwards gilded. The
+appearance, indeed, is that of a drawing in gold-outline on the leather.
+The colour, which is freely used, is some sort of enamel, most of which
+has now chipped off, but enough of it is left to show what it has been
+originally. The book came to the Museum by gift from George IV. The edges
+are gauffred, with a little colour upon them.
+
+The other book that belonged to Mary Queen of Scots was, in 1882, in the
+library of Sir James Gibson Craig. It is a folio copy of Paradin's
+_Chronique de Savoye_, printed at Lyons in 1552, and in Edinburgh Castle
+there is a list of treasures belonging to James VI., and "his hienes
+deerest moder," dated 1578, in which this book is mentioned. It is bound
+in dark calf, decorated in blind and gold. Each board has a broad border
+in blind nearly resembling that on the _Black Acts_. In the centre of
+each side is the royal coat-of-arms of Scotland in gold, crowned. Above,
+below, and on each side of it is a crowned "M." The crowned "M" is also
+impressed in gold at the outer corners of each board, and it is also in
+each of the seven panels of the back.
+
+[Illustration: [Greek: BASILIKON DÔRON]. M.S. Written for Prince Henry, by
+King James VI. of Scotland.]
+
+James VI. of Scotland, whatever may have been his faults, certainly had
+the merit of knowing how to advise his son. In 1559 he wrote the curious
+_Basilicon Doron_ for his "Dearest son Henry, the Prince." He writes as
+for a Prince of Scotland, and about the Scottish people, and when it was
+first issued there were many doubts as to its authorship. The original
+manuscript of this work is now part of the old royal library in the
+British Museum; and although a study of this most interesting manuscript
+will amply repay anybody who cares to read it, it is as well specially
+interesting because of the beautiful binding with which it is covered
+(Plate IV.) We know from documents that in 1580 John Gibson had been
+appointed binder to the King of Scotland, and that when he came to London
+this office was granted to John and Abraham Bateman; and, although no
+binding is certainly known to have been executed by either of these, I
+think it very probable that the binding of the _Basilicon Doron_ may, for
+the present at all events, be attributed to John Gibson. It is covered in
+deep purple velvet, and the ornaments upon it are cut out in thin gold,
+and finished with engraved work. The design on each board is the royal
+coat-of-arms of Scotland, with supporters, crowned, and enclosed within
+the collar of the Order of the Thistle, dependent from which is the badge
+with St. Andrew. The supporters are the two unicorns standing upon a
+ribbon, on which is the legend, "IN MY DEFENSE. GOD ME DEFEND." Above the
+crown are two large letters, J. R. The corners and two clasps of the book
+are made in the form of thistles, with leaves and scrolls. Unluckily much
+of this gold work is gone, but in the figure I have restored it where
+necessary. The decoration altogether has a most rich and beautiful effect,
+and I know of no other book decorated in the same way. Indeed, books of
+any sort bound for James when he was king of Scotland are of the greatest
+rarity, and it is quite possible that this is the only existing specimen;
+although when he came to England a very large quantity of books were bound
+for him, the majority of which still remain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+JAMES I.--HENRY PRINCE OF WALES--CHARLES I.--CHARLES II.--JAMES
+II.--WILLIAM AND MARY--ANNE
+
+
+Up to the present, as far as bookbinding is concerned, I have only
+recorded one change in the royal coat of England, when Henry VIII., in
+1528, altered his supporters, but on the accession of James I. to the
+throne of England a much greater and more important change took place. Not
+only was the shield of Scotland added, but also that of Ireland, which,
+although Elizabeth seems to have used it sometimes, was never before
+officially adopted. The harp of "Apollo Grian" has, equally with the
+Scottish coat, remained an integral part of our royal shield ever since.
+The coats of France and England were now quartered and placed in the first
+and fourth quarters, the coat of Scotland in the second quarter, and the
+coat of Ireland in the third. With minor changes and additions, this coat
+remained the same until the reign of George III., who, in 1801, finally
+omitted the coat of France. As to the supporters, James I. retained the
+crowned lion of Henry VIII., and substituted one of his white unicorns for
+the red dragon of Cadwallader; and these supporters remain unaltered to
+the present day.
+
+The fashion of stamping in gold on velvet, one example of which I have
+already described as having been done for Edward VI. or Elizabeth, was
+practised to a considerable extent for James I., and there are several
+examples of it. James evidently thought much of the Tudor descent, by
+virtue of which he held his English throne; and he used the Tudor emblems
+freely. One large stamp was cut for him with the coat-of-arms just
+described within a crowned Garter, all enclosed in an ornamental oval
+border, in which are included the falcon badge of Queen Elizabeth, the
+double rose, portcullis, and fleur-de-lis of the Tudors, and the plume of
+the Prince of Wales. This stamp commonly occurs on leather bindings, but
+it also occurs, used with great effect, stamped in gold or velvet. A very
+charming specimen of this is on a copy of _Bogusz_, [Greek: DIASKEPSIS]
+_Metaphysica_, printed on satin at Sedan, 1605, which is bound in crimson
+velvet, and has two blue silk ties at the front edge. At each of the four
+corners of the large stamp are four small decorative stamps. It is a
+presentation copy to James I., and has an autograph of Henry Prince of
+Wales inside the cover. In the Manuscript Department of the British
+Museum, belonging also to the old royal library, is a small book bound in
+dark green velvet, in the centre of which is stamped, in gold, the royal
+coat-of-arms within an ornamental border, into which is introduced the
+design of a thistle. An outer border of gold lines has decorative stamps
+at each corner. The manuscript is about the introduction of Christianity
+into England. These two designs, or amplifications of them, are the only
+ones that I have met with on stamped velvet bindings done for James.
+
+There are a considerable number of books still remaining that belonged to
+James, bearing the royal coat-of-arms with supporters and initials, bound
+in leather. They often bear upon them rich semées, which form of
+ornamentation was used for James I. more than for any other sovereign. The
+semées generally consist of small lions passant, thistles, tridents,
+fleurs-de-lis, stars, or flowers. Books of this kind, with heavy
+corner-pieces, are so widely known that detailed description of them is
+hardly necessary; but there are modifications, some of which render the
+bindings of greater interest. One of these is a calf binding on _Ortelius,
+Theatrum Orbis Terrarum_, printed in London in 1606 (Plate V.) It measures
+23 inches by 14, and when in its original state, was doubtless one of the
+finest bindings done for James I. The full coat-of-arms, with small inlays
+of red leather, is further coloured by hand, and is enclosed within a
+rectangular border. Between this and the corner-pieces is a very elaborate
+and graceful design of twining stems, leaves, and arabesques. The binding
+has been largely repaired, but the new stamps have been accurately copied
+from the old ones; and, except the outer border which is new, the design
+upon it is probably in all material points the same as it was originally.
+
+Another instance of a departure from King James's stereotyped pattern
+occurs on Thevet's _Vies des hommes illustres_, printed at Paris, 1584.
+The crowned coat-of-arms in the centre, with the initials J. R., have
+inlays of red leather in the proper places, and the remainder of the board
+is so closely and intricately, with an ornamental design of dotted
+strap-work, interlaced with arabesques that no description can give much
+idea of it. The volume measures 15-1/2 × 10-1/2 inches, and it is in
+perfect condition. Some doubt has been thrown upon the nationality of this
+most beautiful work, but Mr. Fletcher, in his splendid volume of _English
+Bookbindings in the British Museum_, has included it in his list. So
+perhaps in the future we may claim it as our own. There is one little
+point about it which, I think, may be considered as a reason for thinking
+it English work, and that is that the lions on the English coats are full
+face. On all the French bindings I know that were done for English
+sovereigns the lions are always shown side face.
+
+A volume in the Manuscript Department of the British Museum, containing
+English and Italian songs with music, is bound in dark blue morocco, with
+unusually good corners, and the field adorned with large and beautiful
+stars. Large stars used in the field also occur on a vellum binding of the
+Abbot of Salisbury's _De Gratia et perve verantia Sanctorum_, printed in
+London, 1618. It is without the usual corner-stamps, and is in a most
+wonderful brilliant condition.
+
+A little volume of King James's _Meditations on the Lord's Prayer_,
+London, 1619, is covered in deep purple velvet, with silver centre-piece,
+corners, and clasps. On the corners are engraved designs of the cross
+patée, thistle, harp, and fleurs-de-lis, all crowned. The corner with the
+crowned harp is, I believe, the first instance of this badge occurring on
+a book. The clasps are in the form of portcullises. The centre oval
+medallion has the royal coat-of-arms, Garter, and crown engraved upon it.
+
+At the Burlington Fine Arts Club a fine specimen of binding for King James
+I. was exhibited by Mr. James Toovey. It is bound in white vellum, stamped
+in gold. In the centre are the royal arms, and it has large corner-stamps
+of unusual design, containing a sun with rays and an eagle, the ground
+being thickly covered with a semée of ermine spots. The border seems to be
+imitated from one of the old rolls of sporting subjects, which are mostly
+found on blind-tooled books at a much earlier period. It has squirrels,
+birds, snails, dogs, and insects. At Windsor there are a good many
+specimens of Jacobean bindings, all of them similar in character to one or
+other of the British Museum specimens that I have described at length.
+
+[Illustration: Ortelius. Theatre of the World. London, 1606. James I.]
+
+Anne of Denmark, the queen of James I., does not appear to have possessed
+many books. There are only two in the British Museum that belonged to her,
+both of which are bound in vellum. The larger of the two, _Tansillo, Le
+Lagrime di San Pietro_, Vinegia, 1606, has a gold-line border with small
+floral corners, and in the centre the queen's paternal arms with many
+quarterings, the most important of which are Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
+The coat is crowned, and above it are the letters "A. R."; and the queen's
+own motto, "La mia grandezza viene dal eccelso," is contained on a ribbon
+half enclosing the coat.
+
+Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I., showed more taste for literary
+matters than any of his predecessors, although he was much addicted to all
+manly exercises. He not only took great interest in the books he already
+found in his father's library, but he materially added to it by further
+collections of his own. In 1609 he purchased the library of Lord Lumley,
+who had been his tutor, and which was the finest then in England, except
+that of Sir Robert Cotton. This library had originally belonged to Henry
+Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel, Lord Lumley's father-in-law, and it had been
+largely increased since his death. Prince Henry only possessed the library
+for three years, as he died in 1612, but during this time he made many
+important additions to it. Not many of the original bindings remain upon
+the Earl of Arundel's books, and those that do are usually simple. There
+is one specimen in the British Museum that is especially good; it bears a
+"cameo" of a white horse, galloping, with an oak spray in his mouth, in an
+oval medallion, and if there were many others like it, Prince Henry
+destroyed much beautiful work when he had them rebound.
+
+It must be supposed that the bindings of both Lord Arundel's and Lord
+Lumley's collection were in a bad state when Prince Henry acquired them,
+as they now are almost invariably in bindings that were made for him after
+1610, when he was made Prince of Wales. On the Prince's death, his
+library, which was then kept at St. James's, reverted to the king, and
+served largely to augment the old royal library, which had not been very
+carefully kept up to the present time, and which, even afterwards,
+suffered various losses.
+
+The majority of Prince Henry's rebindings are designed in a fashion which
+has been very adversely criticised, but nevertheless they are not all
+without interest. The commonest decoration found upon them consists of a
+large royal coat-of-arms of England within a scroll border with thistles,
+stamped in gold, having the label of the eldest son in silver. At the
+corners are very large stamps, either crowned double roses, fleurs-de-lis,
+lions rampant, all in gold, or the Prince of Wales' feathers in silver.
+Books bearing this design are more frequently met with outside the large
+royal collections than any others, as at one time or another many examples
+have become separated from the rest. But there are other books bound for
+the Prince the designs on which are often original and effective. Perhaps
+the best of these is on a copy of Livy's _Romana Historia_, Avreliæ
+Allobrogvm, 1609 (Fig. 15). In this instance the Prince of Wales' feathers
+form the central design, impressed in silver and gold, and with the
+initials H. P. at the sides of it, all enclosed in a border composed of a
+dotted ribbon arranged in right angles and segments of circles, enriched
+at the corners with ornamental arabesques. This design is particularly
+pleasing, and it is likely that it was executed by the same binder who
+bound the edition of Thevet's _Vies des hommes illustres_, described
+above, for James I., the peculiar design of the dotted ribbon appearing in
+both instances.
+
+_Petrus de Crescentiis, De omnibus agriculturæ partibus_, Basileæ, 1548,
+has the Prince of Wales' feathers in silver, with H. P. at the sides, and
+on two upright labels the words "O et presidium | Dulce decus meum." It
+has very heavy corner-stamps.
+
+A little book of _Commentaries_ of Messer. Blaise de Monluc, Bordeaux,
+1592, has a small Prince of Wales' feathers in the centre, and very pretty
+angle-stamps of sprays of foliage, the feathers still being in silver.
+_Rivault, Les Clemens d' Artillery_, Paris, 1608, is remarkably pretty. It
+is a small book bound in olive morocco, and has a tiny Prince of Wales'
+feathers in an oval in the centre, stamped in gold and silver, within a
+broad border of sprays of foliage. There are large angle-pieces of the
+same sprays, all enclosed in a border stamped in gold. A common design is
+the coat-of-arms, with label within an ornamental border, ensigned with
+a prince's crown, enclosed in a single line rectangle, at the corners of
+which are small stamps of the Prince of Wales' feathers, crowned roses,
+crowned fleurs-de-lis, and crowned thistles. There are several examples of
+this design, both in the British Museum and at Windsor.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 15.--_Livius. Romana Historia. Avreliæ Allobrogvm,
+1609. Henry, Prince of Wales._]
+
+_Pandulphi Collenucii Pisaurensis Apologus cui titulus Agenoria_ and other
+tracts in one collection was dedicated to Henry VIII., and originally his
+property (Fig. 16). It afterwards belonged to Magdalen College, Oxford,
+and they presented it to Prince Henry, for whom it was enclosed in a
+magnificent cover of crimson velvet, thickly embroidered with an elaborate
+design in gold and pearls. The edges of the cover project freely beyond
+the boards of the book, and have a rich gold fringe. The Prince of Wales'
+feathers, thickly worked in pearls, forms the centre of the design. The
+coronet is of gold, and the motto is in gold letters on a blue silk
+ground. The very beautiful broad border contains a rich arabesque design
+with flowers thickly worked in seed pearls, and the inner angles have
+sprays in gold and pearls. There are innumerable single pearls dotted
+about. Both for beauty of design and richness of execution, this cover is
+certainly one of the finest specimens of late embroidery work in England.
+With the exception of a few pearls missing, and some gold braid about the
+motto, it may be considered to be in a very fair condition.
+
+Another crimson velvet book, _Becano Baculus Salcolbrigiensis_, Oppenheim,
+1611, was bound for Prince Henry. It has the Prince of Wales' feathers in
+the centre, impressed in gold and silver, with a simple gold line round
+the edge. It is much faded, and the velvet is now more orange than
+crimson, but it is interesting as being the only instance in the British
+Museum of a stamped velvet book done for Prince Henry.
+
+Prince Charles used two of the stamps which were first used by his brother
+Henry--the large coat-of-arms, with silver label, and the Prince of Wales'
+feathers. Each of these is usually flanked by the letters C. P., and the
+Prince of Wales' feathers are always stamped in gold instead of silver. In
+cases where Charles has used the coat-of-arms, the corners are filled with
+a full arrangement of leaf sprays and arabesques. A fine example of this
+style, bound in olive morocco, occurs on a binding of Dallington's
+_Aphorismes, Civill and Militarie_, London, 1613, now in the British
+Museum. An example of the Prince of Wales' feathers used alone on dark
+blue morocco is in the library at Windsor. During the reign of Charles I.
+several small, thin books were bound in vellum, stamped in gold (Plate
+VII.). Some of them were done for him both as prince and as king. A very
+good example covers a collection of Almanacks, dated 1624. In the centre
+is an ornament composed of four Prince of Wales' feathers arranged as a
+star, the corners are filled with large stamps, the remainder of the
+boards are filled with semées of flaming hearts. This particular book was
+probably a favourite one of the Prince's, as it contains his signature and
+other writings.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 16.--_Collection of Miscellaneous Tracts in MS. Henry
+Prince of Wales._]
+
+The styles of ornamentation used on large books for James I. were
+generally followed by his son, but often the outer borders are of a
+broader and more decorative kind. An instance of this is found on the dark
+morocco binding of Raderus's _Theological Biography_, printed at Munich in
+1628, a large book with a broad decorative border, corner-pieces,
+coat-of-arms, and semée of thistles, roses, and fleurs-de-lis. A small
+book with coat-of-arms in the centre, within the Garter, crowned, and
+bearing on each cover the legend "TIBI SOLI O REX CHARISSIME," is in the
+Manuscript Department of the British Museum, on a collection of treatises
+presented to the king. There is a handsome border round the book, the
+ground of which is covered with a semée of crosses, and the letters C. R.
+are on either side of the coat-of-arms. The book has two silver clasps, on
+one of which is engraved the Scottish crest, and on the other three
+crowns. The panels joining the clasps to the book are engraved with
+emblematic figures.
+
+A copy of _Hippocratis et Galeni opera_, Paris, 1639, in several volumes,
+bears in the centre of each board the full royal coat-of-arms and
+supporters, enclosed in an octagonal border, within a rectangle, in the
+inner corners of which is a handsome stamp of floral sprays, and at the
+outer corners the crowned monogram of King Charles and his wife Henrietta
+Maria. They are large books, measuring 17 × 11 inches.
+
+A very decorative little book is covered in red velvet, with silver
+mounts. It is a copy of the New Testament, printed in London, 1643. On
+each side, in the centre, are medallion portraits of the king and his
+queen, in pierced and repoussé silver, within ornamental borders. On the
+panels of the clasps are engraved figures emblematic of the elements, and
+on the corner clasps emblematic figures of Charity, Justice, Hope,
+Fortitude, Prudence, Patience, Faith, and Temperance.
+
+Although embroidered books were largely produced during the reign of
+Charles I., not many of them were made for himself. One exists in the
+British Museum, on a manuscript of Montenay's _Emblemes Chrestiens_, which
+is written by Esther Inglis, who was a calligraphist of great repute from
+the time of Queen Elizabeth to that of Prince Charles. She is said to have
+been nurse to Prince Henry; and it is probable that she worked the binding
+of the manuscript. It is covered in crimson satin, and embroidered in gold
+and silver cord with a few pearls. In the centre is the Prince of Wales'
+feathers enclosed in a laurel wreath, and round it a very handsome border,
+with arabesques at the inner corners.
+
+A copy of the Psalms, printed in London in 1643, is covered in white satin
+and embroidered. It may have belonged to King Charles, and was purchased
+by the British Museum in 1888. In the centre, in an oval medallion, is a
+minute portrait of the king, wearing a crown with miniver cape and red
+robe, with the jewel of the Garter flanked by the letters C. R. Enclosing
+this is an arrangement of arabesques and flowers, worked respectively in
+silver or gold guimp and coloured silks. There is no record with the book,
+but it is quite possible that it was worked for the king. It is one of the
+smallest embroidered books existing, measuring little more than 3 inches
+by 2.
+
+At Windsor there is a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, printed in 1638.
+It is bound in blue velvet, and richly embroidered in silver guimp. In the
+centre are the Prince of Wales' feathers, enclosed within a circular
+Garter, and surmounted by a prince's coronet, with C. P. on either side of
+it. Below are the rose and the thistle. A rich outer border of arabesques
+encloses the central design. Her Majesty lent this book to the Burlington
+Fine Arts Club in 1891. It was figured in the _Queen_ of August 15, in the
+same year. There are several other bindings at Windsor that belonged to
+Charles; among them a particularly charming specimen covers a copy of
+_Ecphrasis Paraphraseos, G. Buchanani in Psalmos_, 1620. It is a small
+book, and bears the Prince of Wales' feathers in the centre, within a
+border of crosses, patée, and fleurs-de-lis, surrounded by the Garter. It
+has large corner-stamps and a semée of fleurs-de-lis. The other bindings
+made for Charles I. in the same library generally bear the royal
+coat-of-arms and large corner-stamps, and dates often occur upon them.
+
+[Illustration: New Testament, etc. London, 1643. Charles I.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 17.--_Dallington. Aphorismes, Civill and Militarie.
+London, 1613. Charles Prince of Wales._]
+
+Charles himself certainly took very considerable interest in bookbinding,
+and abundant evidence of this is found in the history of Nicholas
+Ferrar's establishment at Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, the
+beginning and ending of which was synchronous with Charles's reign. The
+king visited Little Gidding more than once, and always evinced the
+liveliest interest in its work, a very important part of which was
+bookbinding. The most remarkable feature about these Little Gidding
+bindings, which were the work of amateur hands, was the stamped work on
+velvet, which actually reached its highest development under the auspices,
+and probably by the hands, of some of the Collet family, nieces of
+Nicholas Ferrar. They bound books for Charles and for both his sons; but,
+unfortunately, no specimen of their finer stamped work done for either of
+these princes is in the British Museum.
+
+The copy of the _Harmony of the Four Gospels_, known as "[Greek:
+MONOTESSARON]," which was given to Charles when Prince of Wales in 1640,
+is now in the library of the Earl of Normanton. It measures 24-1/2 × 16
+inches, and is bound in green velvet, stamped elaborately in gold. A
+_Concordance of the Four Evangelists_, which was probably made for James,
+Duke of York, about 1640, is now the property of the Marquis of Salisbury,
+and is kept at Hatfield. It measures 20 × 14 inches, and is bound in
+purple velvet. Among the small stamps upon it is one of a fleur-de-lis.
+
+_The Whole Law of God, as it is delivered in the Five Books of Moses_, is
+another Little Gidding harmony, which was probably made for Prince
+Charles. It measures 29 × 20 inches, and is bound in purple velvet, and
+decorated with gold stamp-work of a similar kind. It was probably made
+about 1642, and now belongs to Captain Gaussen. The whole history of
+Little Gidding is most interesting; and, from a binding point of view, its
+existence during the reign of Charles I., and his kindly appreciation and
+patronage of it in the midst of all his own troubles, will always mark his
+reign as an important epoch in English bookbinding. Illustrations of many
+of the Little Gidding bindings are given in _Bibliographica_, part vi.
+
+No particular binding seems to have been made during the period of the
+Commonwealth, at all events I have never been able to discover one in any
+of our large libraries; but, to make up for this, during the reign of
+Charles II. we have a profusion of royal bindings, many of which are of
+considerable beauty. The appointment of Samuel Mearne as royal
+bookbinder to Charles II. was in force from 1660 to 1683, and no doubt
+long before this Mearne was well known as a fine binder. There is a good
+deal of documentary evidence concerning Mearne, chiefly relating to
+bindings of Bibles and Prayer Books bound for the royal chapels, and
+others for the royal library at St. James's. He decorated his bindings in
+three styles, easily distinguishable from each other. Books bound in the
+first, or simplest, style are always covered with red morocco, and have a
+rectangular panel of gold lines stamped on each side, having at the outer
+corners fleurons, or the device of two C's, adossés, crowned, and partly
+enclosed within two laurel sprays. This device occurs commonly on Mearne's
+books. The backs of these volumes are often richly stamped with masses of
+small floral designs, and the lettering is remarkably clear and good.
+There are numbers of examples, both in our royal libraries and in the
+hands of private owners. Although they cannot be called very ornamental,
+they nevertheless are of excellent workmanship, and are always in good
+taste.
+
+[Illustration: Gil. [Greek: PARERGA], etc. Londini, 1632. Charles I.]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 18.--_Common Prayer. London, 1662. Charles II._]
+
+The second division are bound in red or dark morocco, the boards being
+decorated with what is known as the "Cottage" design, usually having the
+crowned monogram in the centre, the remaining spaces being more or less
+filled with masses of small stamped work. The fillets and many of the
+flowers and ornaments are often picked out with black stain.
+
+The third division are bound in red or black morocco, ornamented with
+mosaic work of coloured leathers--red, yellow, green, and white. Many of
+these books are so intricate in their design that they deserve special
+mention; but it may be said, generally, that the leading motive upon them
+is a modification or elaboration of the cottage design, so called because
+its leading motive is in the shape of the gable of a cottage roof.
+
+One of the earliest bindings done for Charles is a copy of the Bible and
+Prayer Book, printed at Cambridge, 1660. It is a large book covered in red
+morocco, and has a rectangular panel and border, with the royal
+coat-of-arms in the centre, all richly decorated with small gold
+stamp-work. The binding is not very characteristic of Mearne, although it
+is often considered to be his work, and bears some of his stamps. Neither
+the crowned monogram which is used upon it, nor the crowned dove bearing
+an olive branch, is found on any other bindings by Mearne. The stamp of
+the dove with the olive branch is of course symbolical of Charles's return
+to the throne of his ancestors. The book may have been bound for special
+presentation to Charles on his accession to the throne.
+
+In the royal library at Windsor are several specimens of Charles II.
+bindings. Among them are three copies of Charles I.'s _Eikon Basilike_.
+One of them is bound in dark blue morocco, with large royal coat-of-arms
+and supporters, crest and crown. Another in olive morocco is delicately
+stamped with arabesques, and the crowned initials C. R.; it has two silver
+clasps, with medallion portraits of Charles I. Another is bound in calf,
+having in the centre of each board a decorative portrait medallion of
+Charles I. in silver, within an ornamental border of figures and
+arabesques, having also engraved silver corner-pieces on the two front
+corners.
+
+In the same library a copy of the Bible, 1660, and Taylor's _Rule of
+Conscience_, 1676, are bound respectively in black and red morocco, and
+are brilliant specimens of Samuel Mearne's work. The boards are covered
+with many irregular small panels, each closely filled with small stamped
+work. The Bible was lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1891, and is
+figured both in their Catalogue and in Mr. Holmes's book of the
+bookbindings at Windsor. A copy of the works of Charles I., 1662, now at
+Windsor, is a beautiful example of Samuel Mearne's inlaid work. It is
+bound in deep red morocco, with an inner panel marked with white leather.
+In the centre is the royal coat, with supporters and crest; and the
+remainder of the boards, especially the corners, are ornamented with
+elaborate inlays of green and yellow leather, and richly stamped in gold.
+
+The British Museum is also rich in Charles II. bindings. The Common
+Prayer, printed in London in 1622, measuring 17-1/4 × 11-1/2 inches, was
+bound for him in black morocco, elaborately inlaid, and stamped in gold
+(Fig. 18). A broad, yellow, rectangular panel encloses at the present time
+a stamp of the coat-of-arms of one of the Georges. This, of course, is a
+subsequent addition, and it is impossible to say for certain whether there
+was originally any stamp in the centre of the book or not; but probably
+there was a crowned initial. The inner sides and corners of this panel are
+ornamented with mosaics of white, red, and yellow leather, with gilded
+sprays and small stamps. The outer edges of the panel have at the top
+and bottom a cottage arrangement, filled in with small dotted scale
+ornament, and further decorated with red mosaic inlays, having gold stamps
+and sprays. A somewhat similar arrangement at the sides has scale patterns
+and red mosaics, and the crowned initials of the king are impressed at the
+roof angles. The gilt front edges of this volume are decorated with
+paintings of incidents chosen from the life of Christ, executed under the
+gold, and only visible when held in a certain position.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 19.--_A short View of the late Troubles in England,
+etc. Oxford, 1681. Charles II._]
+
+A copy of the Book of Common Prayer, printed in London, 1669, is covered
+in red morocco, and bears upon each board a modification of the roofed
+pattern, stained black, and broken by curves at the upper and lower points
+and at the sides. In the centre, the crowned C's are enclosed in a small
+inner fillet, coloured black, and supplemented with very delicate
+arabesque stamped work in gold. The inner angles of the roof and sides are
+filled with scale patterns in dots. Above and below the centre-piece are
+bold leaf sprays. The corners and spaces throughout are filled with very
+close gold stamped arabesques, circles, and small flowers. It has an
+elaborate outer border of an enlarged scaled pattern filled with small
+stamps. The book is a very beautiful one, and is, in some ways, the finest
+specimen of Mearne's work existing. It has frequently been figured. Under
+the gilding on the front edges is a painting, having as its centre motive
+the design of the crowned C's and the laurel branches already mentioned.
+This method of painting under the gold, which appears to have been first
+done by an artist of the name of Fletcher, is frequently found on Mearne's
+bindings. The custom dropped into disuse after his time, until it was
+revived by Edwards of Halifax about a hundred years later.
+
+A copy of the Scottish Laws and Acts of James I., Edinburgh, 1661, is
+covered in red morocco. It has in the centre a large irregular panel,
+inlaid in black morocco, bearing the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, within
+the Garter, and the initials C. II. R., the rest of the black panel being
+thickly gilded with ornamental sprays. There are large angle-pieces of
+yellow leather, richly stamped, and at the sides, upper, and lower edges
+of each board are urns carrying large branching sprays, with flowers
+inlaid in yellow and black leathers.
+
+_A short View of the late Troubles in England_, Oxford, 1681 (Fig. 19),
+is bound in red morocco, and ornamented all over the boards with small,
+irregular panels, outlined by broad gold lines, and filled with mosaics of
+black and yellow leather, all ornamented thickly with small gold
+stamp-work. In the centre, on a black panel, are large ornamental
+initials, "C. R.," crowned. Although this binding has many points in
+common with Samuel Mearne's work, it is lacking in finish, and it is
+probably the work of his son Charles, who afterwards succeeded him as
+royal binder. A copy of Fox's _Book of Martyrs_, London, 1641, also bound
+in Mearne's fashion, bears upon its front edges, under the gilding, a
+portrait of the king in his coronation robes. It is figured in
+_Bibliographica_, part viii., and is signed "Fletcher."
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 20.--_Bible. Cambridge, 1674. James II._]
+
+There are in the British Museum two large volumes of an English Atlas,
+measuring 23 × 15 inches. The first of them bears the large ornamental
+initials C. R. crowned. It has a modification of the cottage design,
+arranged in an interlacing fillet of yellow leather, within which is a
+symmetrical arrangement of irregular panels, inlaid with black and yellow
+morocco, all richly edged and filled in with small gold stamped work,
+picked out with silver. The second volume is ornamented in a similar
+manner with inlays, but has not the outer border or the initials.
+
+Although there are many of Mearne's bindings to be found in the large
+private libraries throughout England, probably the finest is that which
+belongs to the Earl of Crewe, at Crewe Hall. It covers a folio Book of
+Common Prayer, 1662, and bears the cottage design, outlined in yellow
+leather, with scale pattern. There are fine mosaics of red, yellow, and
+green leathers in the corners of the inner panel, covered with close gold
+stamp-work and floral sprays. The crowned C's are in the centre within an
+ornamental border, and outside the yellow panel are red and green mosaics,
+thickly covered with small gold work.
+
+Mr. Almack, in his valuable _Bibliography of the King's Book_ or _Eikon
+Basilike_, gives a plate of a binding that covers an edition of 1649, but
+which was bound for Charles II. by Samuel Mearne. It bears the royal
+coat-of-arms, with garter and crest, within a rectangular panel enriched
+with small gold stamps. It is in red morocco. Several of the editions of
+the _Eikon_ bear the initials C. R. upon their covers, with other emblems,
+but it is most likely that these letters refer to the author rather than
+to the owner.
+
+Mr. E. H. Lawrence lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of
+Bookbindings an exquisite specimen of Samuel Mearne's work. It is a
+collection of anthems, with music, bound in dark blue morocco. It is
+elaborately stamped in gold, with a curved adaptation of the cottage
+design, closely filled in with masses of small gold work along the inner
+and outer edges. The crowned monogram, with laurel sprays, is in the
+centre of each of the sides, and it has a rich double border of scale
+patterns filled with gold stamped work.
+
+In the library at Windsor are several bindings that were done for James
+II., but they are generally of a simple kind, bearing heraldic devices in
+the centre enclosed in rectangular panels of more or less elaboration. At
+the British Museum are some Jacobean bindings of a more ornamental kind.
+One of these, a Cambridge Bible of 1674, is bound in crimson velvet, and
+has rich silk ties with bullion fringe (Fig. 20). It is heavily
+embroidered in gold, silver, and coloured silks, and bears in the centre
+the crowned initials "J. R." enclosed in a strap border intertwined with
+rose sprays and other floral designs. In each of the corners is a cherub's
+head with wings. There are two volumes, each measuring 18 × 12 inches.
+Although, from the size of these books and the splendid colour, they are
+undoubtedly of imposing appearance, neither the design nor the workmanship
+can be considered of a high quality.
+
+Belonging to the King's Library in the British Museum are two specimens,
+almost exactly alike except for their size, which may, for the present, be
+considered the finest that were done for James II. One of these is a
+Common Prayer, printed at Oxford in 1681. It is bound in red morocco, and
+has a black "cottage" fillet, broken at the angles and at each side. The
+crowned monogram "J. R.," with laurel spray, occurs in several places on
+the boards. The remaining spaces are closely filled with small gold
+stamped work, similar to that used by Samuel Mearne. The book is an
+unusually fat one, and bears upon its broad front edges, under the gold,
+the most elaborate painting I have found in such a position. It has the
+full coat-of-arms of England, with supporters, crown, and crest, enclosed
+in an elaborate border of flowers, cherubs, and ribbons. This painting is
+in remarkably fine condition, but, like all this class of work, the
+appearance of it depends very largely upon the manner in which it is
+displayed. The companion volume is a Bible of 1685. It is bound in an
+almost identical way; but the painting on the edge, although brighter, is
+not to be compared with it, either for size or excellence.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 21.--_Euclide. Oxford, 1705. Queen Anne._]
+
+A note at the beginning, signed _G. Sarum_, says that this was the book
+which "lay before His Majesty above two years in the closet of his
+chappell," and afterwards it was the property of the Archbishop of
+Canterbury, and then of the Bishop himself.
+
+At Windsor there is a small book bound for Mary of Modena in red morocco,
+with the royal coats of England and Este, crowned, and enclosed within a
+cordelière des veuves, the rest, with the field, being occupied with small
+panels ornamented in the Mearne fashion.
+
+At the British Museum is a copy of Walter's Poems, printed in 1668, that
+was dedicated by him to the Duchess of York, with an autograph poem. It is
+bound in black morocco, and bears the arms of England, with a label,
+impaled with those of Este, with supporters, and surmounted with a
+prince's coronet. Above and below the coat-of-arms are curves and
+arabesques in dotted gold work, picked out with silver, all enclosed in a
+rectangular border of a Mearne pattern.
+
+The bindings of William and Mary are not remarkable in any way, except for
+their peculiar arrangement of the quarterings of the royal coat. A fine
+copy of _Veues des belles maisons de France_, bound in red morocco, has in
+the centre a crowned shield within a Garter, the bearings being--first,
+the coat of England; second, the coat of Scotland; third, the coat of
+France; fourth, the coat of Ireland; over all the scutcheon of Nassau. In
+each corner is a handsome crowned monogram, "W. M." The volume is at
+Windsor. In the same library is a copy of the Statutes of the Order of the
+Garter, bound in dark blue morocco, and bearing in the centre, within a
+Mearne border, the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, with Garter. On the dexter
+side is the Cross of St. George; on the sinister side, the coat of England
+with the quarterings in their proper order.
+
+In the British Museum are other bindings of William and Mary, but they are
+also of small importance from a decorative point of view. They often bear
+the crowned initials "W. R." enclosed in laurel sprays, and are ornamented
+with lines and small sprays in gold, mostly after the Mearne fashion. A
+copy of the _Memoirs of the Earl of Castlehaven_, London, 1681, has the
+coat arranged in the following curious manner: first, England; second,
+Scotland; third, Ireland; fourth, France, with scutcheon of Nassau over
+all. It almost seemed as if William considered that the coat of France had
+been borne long enough by English sovereigns, and it occupied the place of
+honour until he deposed it from that proud position; but I believe it was
+only upon his bookbindings that he took these liberties with the
+fleurs-de-lis.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 22.--_Ælfric. An English-Saxon Homily on the Birthday
+of St. Gregory. London, 1709. Queen Anne._]
+
+The finest of Queen Anne's bindings at Windsor is a copy of Flamsteed,
+_Historia Coelestis_, 1712. It is bound in red morocco, and has in the
+centre the full arms of England with supporters. The arms are quartered as
+follows: first and fourth, England and Scotland impaled; second, France;
+and third, Ireland; all within mitred panels, ornamented with small
+arabesques and floral sprays at the angles and sides. In the same library
+is also a binding with the monogram of William, Duke of Gloucester, son of
+Queen Anne, with a prince's coronet enclosed in a triple-bordered panel,
+with sprays and acorns.
+
+In the British Museum the richest binding done for Queen Anne is on a copy
+of the English _Euclide_, Oxford, 1705 (Fig. 21). It is a large book, and
+the centre is occupied by a cottage design divided into four panels, each
+of which is thickly filled with small gold stamped work. At the upper and
+lower edges of the boards are the words "ANNA D. G.," under a royal crown,
+upheld by two cherubs; above which is a scroll bearing the words "VIVAT
+REGINA." The outer corners and the sides are filled with scale ornaments
+and floral sprays of a branching character.
+
+Another volume bound for Queen Anne, in the British Museum, is _An
+English-Saxon Homily on the Birthday of St. Gregory_, by Ælfric,
+Archbishop of Canterbury, London, 1709 (Fig. 22). It is covered in red
+morocco, and stamped in gold with a cottage design, and bears the crowned
+monogram "A. R.," with laurel sprays and other small stamps scattered
+about. The designs on all these volumes of the later Stuart sovereigns
+have no very distinctive character, and, except where they are frank
+imitations of Mearne's work, they show little inventive power.
+
+On the legislative union of England and Scotland in 1706, the first and
+fourth quarters of the royal coat bore the coats of England and Scotland
+impaled, the second quarter the coat of France, and the third that of
+Ireland. It is important to remember this change, as the first quarter
+continued to be used in the same way on Queen Anne's books and on those of
+her successors until 1801.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+GEORGE I.--GEORGE II.--GEORGE III.--GEORGE IV.--WILLIAM IV.
+
+
+On the succession to the English crown passing to the Hanoverian line,
+another important change was made in the royal coat of England. George I.
+substituted for the fourth quarter, which had been hitherto a repetition
+of the first, the arms of his family, Brunswick, impaling Luneburg, and in
+the base point the coat of Saxony, over all an escutcheon, charged with
+the crown of Charlemagne, as a badge of the office of High Treasurer of
+the Holy Roman Empire. George II. bore the same coat as did George III. up
+to 1801, when, on the legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland, the
+coat was officially altered to first and fourth England; second, Scotland;
+third, Ireland, with over all an escutcheon, bearing the arms of the royal
+dominions in Germany, ensigned with the electoral bonnet, which was again
+changed to the Hanoverian royal crown when Hanover was elevated to the
+rank of a kingdom in 1816. This last coat was used by George IV. and
+William IV., and, without the Hanoverian escutcheon, it is the present
+royal coat of England.
+
+The bindings of George I. and George II. are generally much alike. There
+are good specimens of each at Windsor. They are generally in red morocco,
+with either coats-of-arms in the centre or monograms. At Windsor there is
+one bound in vellum, it is a manuscript _Report on States of Traytors_,
+1717, and bears the full royal coat in the centre, enclosed in rectangular
+mitred borders, with delicate gold stamped work at the sides. In the
+British Museum is a finely stamped _Account of Conference concerning the
+Succession to the Crown_, 1719, very delicately and tastefully ornamented,
+having the coat-of-arms in the centre, with crowned initials at the
+corners, and delicate gold work of floral sprays and curves borrowed from
+Le Gascon, a great French binder.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 23.--_Account of what passed in a Conference
+concerning the Succession to the Crown, MS. George I._]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 24.--_Le Nouveau Testament. Amsterdam, 1718. George
+II._]
+
+There are several of George II. bindings at Windsor, made for him when he
+was Prince of Wales. These generally bear the Prince of Wales' feathers as
+a chief motive, and they often have broad borders, much of the
+ornamentation of which contains stamps of crowns, sceptres, and birds,
+which are attributed to Eliot and Chapman. There are other inlaid bindings
+made for George II. which often have doublures. Some of these are figured
+in Mr. Holmes's _Bookbindings at Windsor_. Bindings of a similar kind that
+were made for Frederick Prince of Wales, and for his wife, the Princess
+Augusta, are also preserved at Windsor. These have always heraldic
+centres, and generally the broad Eliot and Chapman outer borders.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 25.--_Chandler. A Vindication of the Defence of
+Christianity. London, 1728. George II._]
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 26.--_Common Prayer. Cambridge, 1760. Queen
+Charlotte._]
+
+For George III., both when Prince of Wales and King, books were bound with
+coloured inlays by Andreas Lande. There are specimens of his work both in
+the British Museum and at Windsor, they are not in particularly good
+taste. During the reign of George III. a remarkable English bookbinder
+worked in London. This was Roger Payne; and, although he himself does not
+seem to have bound any royal books, he strongly influenced many who did,
+more particularly Kalthoeber, who bound many of the books in the King's
+Library at the British Museum. Although these bindings are by no means so
+good as their originals, they are a very great advance upon their
+immediate predecessors; and a delicately worked and effective instance
+covers a copy of the Gutenburg Bible now at the British Museum.
+
+Another English binder of note, James Edwards of Halifax, also flourished
+in the reign of George III. This binder has not, I think, received
+sufficient appreciation, as he discovered an entirely new way of treating
+vellum by which it was rendered transparent. He painted designs on the
+under side of the vellum and bound his books with it, the result being
+that, if the vellum is clean on the outside, the protected painting
+underneath it is as fresh as when it was first done. A fine example of
+this curious work is on a copy of a Prayer Book, printed at Cambridge,
+1760, which belonged to Charlotte of Mecklenburg, queen of George III.
+(Fig. 26). Her arms, in proper heraldic colours, are in the centre of the
+upper cover, enclosed by a blue and gold border of Etruscan design. At the
+lower edge is a miniature of a ruin in monotone, and at each side of the
+coat and above it are ornamental scrolls, with conventional flowers,
+birds, animals, and figures. On the lower cover is a central oval, with an
+allegorical figure in monotone, enclosed in a similar border to that on
+the upper cover, at each side of which are flowering trees in urns, birds,
+etc., and in each panel of the back is also a decorative design.
+Altogether this is the prettiest royal binding done at this period. It has
+the crowned initials "C. R." painted in silver inside the upper cover, and
+on the front edge, in an oval, is a painting of the Resurrection under the
+gold. Between this and the edges, painted for James II., there were no
+books adorned in this way for royal owners.
+
+[Illustration: FIG. 27.--_Portfolio containing the Royal Letter concerning
+the King's Library. George IV._]
+
+The bindings done for George IV., at Windsor, are generally bound in red
+morocco, with heraldic centres and broad borders, sometimes inlaid with
+coloured leathers. The borders are sometimes like those used by Eliot and
+Chapman, and sometimes conventional patterns. A good example in the
+British Museum is on the cover of the letter written to Lord Liverpool by
+the king in 1823, concerning the gift of his father's library to the
+nation. A copy of the Book of Common Prayer, which belonged to William
+IV., and is now at Windsor, is bound in blue morocco. It bears in the
+centre the star of the Order of the Garter, within a crowned Garter,
+dependent from which is an anchor, and at the sides "G. R. III." There are
+anchors in the corners, and a decorative outer border. The generality of
+the books belonging to him have the usual heraldic centres, within borders
+designed in more or less good taste. The king presented to the British
+Museum, and signed with his own name, an _Inventory of the Crown Plate_,
+1832. It is bound by William Clark, and bears in the centre the full royal
+coat-of-arms, and has a handsome rectangular border of triple gold lines,
+broken at each side by bold arabesque ornaments.
+
+
+
+
+EPILOGUE
+
+
+In the foregoing detailed descriptions I have included only the work of
+English binders. There are, however, many books existing that have been
+bound for English royal personages abroad. Instances of these occur
+notably for Henry VIII., Elizabeth, James I., Henrietta Maria, Henrietta
+Anna, Charles II., the Chevalier St. George, and Cardinal York. It will be
+noticed that generally the ornamentation of English royal books is
+heraldic, and that crowned initials are constantly used from the time of
+Henry VIII. to William IV. To understand the royal coat-of-arms of England
+it is necessary, at all events, to note the larger rearrangements of the
+various quarterings, which on the Tudor bindings were simply France and
+England, quarterly. The two great changes took place on the accession of
+the Stuart line, when the coats of Scotland and England were introduced;
+and on the accession of the Hanoverian line, when the family coat of the
+Guelphs was introduced. There are several minor alterations and additions,
+but these I have mentioned as they have occurred, and the only other
+important change to remember is concerning the supporters. From the time
+of Henry VII. until 1528 these were a dragon and a greyhound, and from
+that time until Elizabeth they were a lion and a dragon. Since the time of
+James I. they have been a lion and unicorn. Badges are constantly found on
+Tudor and early Stuart bindings. They are the well-known ones of Tudor
+origin--the double rose, portcullis, pomegranate, fleur-de-lis, and
+falcon. The fleur-de-lis remains longest of these. The Prince of Wales'
+feathers is commonly found on books from the time of Edward VI.
+
+The styles of bindings used by these great royal houses have also
+characteristics common to each of them. The bindings of the Tudor
+period are most diversified in styles, and the majority of the leather
+books are either bound by Thomas Berthelet, royal binder to Henry VIII.,
+and his successors, or in his style. Under Elizabeth, the Italian fashion
+of double boards, the upper of which is pierced, was used for very choice
+work. Berthelet took his inspiration originally from Italian models, but
+shortly developed a style of his own. Vellum was much used in connection
+with gold stamped work, the first use of which in England is credited to
+this binder.
+
+[Illustration: Order of the Coronation of George III. and Queen Charlotte.
+London, 1761. George III.]
+
+The bindings of the early Stuart period may be considered remarkable for
+the extensive use of what are called semées, successive and symmetrical
+impressions from small stamps powdered over the sides of the book; and the
+stamped velvet work done at Little Gidding is one of the glories of the
+reign of Charles I.
+
+Samuel Mearne was royal binder to Charles II., and many of his bindings
+are of great beauty. His influence on English bookbinding remained for a
+very long time, weakening gradually, until superseded by the newer style
+introduced by Roger Payne.
+
+In the time of George III. there was some improvement in royal bindings
+due to the imitators of Roger Payne, another binder, whose influence was
+strongly felt after his death. Eliot and Chapman, during the eighteenth
+century, introduced the use of broad borders with small stamps, among
+which are frequently found crowns and sceptres; and many of these are
+found on royal bindings.
+
+Names of many royal binders, from early times, are preserved in various
+records, but there is considerable uncertainty about the work of most of
+them; and, although many lists exist of books bound for certain kings by
+certain workmen, very few of them have been identified. From the constant
+appearance of personal badges of different kinds, it may be considered
+likely that, especially among the earlier sovereigns, considerable
+personal interest has been taken in the covering of their books. We even
+find the livery colours of the Tudors--green and white--duly used on some
+of their bindings; and the prevalence of red and blue, the livery colours
+of the Hanoverian line, is common enough among the Georgian bindings.
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT WORKS CONSULTED
+
+
+Almack. A Bibliography of the King's Book. London, 1896.
+
+Burlington Fine Arts Club. Catalogue of Bookbindings. 1891.
+
+Edwards. Lives of the Founders of the British Museum. London, 1870.
+
+Fletcher. English Bookbindings in the British Museum. London, 1895.
+
+Holmes. Specimens of Bookbinding selected from the Royal Library, Windsor
+Castle. London, 1893.
+
+Horne. The Binding of Books. London, 1894.
+
+Prideaux. An Historical Sketch of Bookbinding. London, 1893.
+
+Tuer. History of the Horn-Book. London, 1896.
+
+Willement. Regal Heraldry. London, 1821.
+
+And various articles on Bookbinding in _Archæologia_, _Bibliographica_,
+_The Gentleman's Magazine_, and _The Queen_ newspaper.
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
+
+The original text includes Greek characters. For this text version these
+letters have been replaced with transliterations.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's Royal English Bookbindings, by Cyril Davenport
+
+*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 40028 ***