Royal English Bookbindings Part 1

Royal English Bookbindings.

by Cyril Davenport.

PROLOGUE

It is curious that twice in English history the royal libraries have been given to the nation. The ancient royal collection, containing ma.n.u.scripts 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 ma.n.u.scripts.

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 n.o.ble 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 mediaeval 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 ma.n.u.script 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 bra.s.s, stamped with a device of a fleur-de-lis within a circle, and there is a clasp of leather and bra.s.s. 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 ma.n.u.script 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 ta.s.sels 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 ta.s.sels 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 ma.n.u.scripts 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 doc.u.mentary 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 ma.n.u.scripts 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 aeTERNUM 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 s.p.a.ce 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 aeTERNUM VIVE."

Some of the same stamps are used on another book which is probably Berthelet's work. It is a ma.n.u.script 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 t.i.tles 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 Regiae Potestatis et Ecclesiasticae_, 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 aeTERNUM 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 ma.n.u.script 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 _semee 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 2.--_Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiae Potestatis et Ecclesiasticae. 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 s.p.a.ces 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, appliques, 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."