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diff --git a/40028-0.txt b/40028-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..fb3b9b3 --- /dev/null +++ b/40028-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2444 @@ +*** 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 *** |