Royal English Bookbindings

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.

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.

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.

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 2¼ inches by 1¾. 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 × 3¼ 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.

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, 2¾ inches in length and 2¼ 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 3½. 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.

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.

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 16½ 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.

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.

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.

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.

??S?????? ?O???. 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.

Clyx.com