Royal English Bookbindings Part 2

The most splendid of the books that Queen Mary has left for us to admire is a ma.n.u.script 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 applique.

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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 7.--_Queen Mary's Psalter, MS._]

A book of hours in illuminated ma.n.u.script 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 _Horae in laudeum Beatissimae Virginis Marie_, Lugduni, 1558. It is covered in figured red velvet projecting over the boards at the lower edges, and with small ta.s.sels 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 Ill.u.s.trated 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 8.--_Prayers, etc. London, 1574-1591. Queen Elizabeth._]

The bindings executed for Queen Elizabeth may be conveniently divided into three cla.s.ses--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 SEt.i.t 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 champleve 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 vand.y.k.ed edge of the diamond is bordered with a thin line of blue enamel, and the remaining s.p.a.ces 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 9.--_Christian Meditations, in Latin, 1570. Queen Elizabeth._]

One more book in the British Museum has champleve 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 a.n.a.logy 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 s.p.a.ces 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 VITae X P V S. CHRISTUS VIA, CHRISTO VIVE." That round the lower cover, "BEATUS QUI DIVITIAS SCRIPTURae LEGENS VERBA VERt.i.t 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 pa.s.ses 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, applique, 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 s.p.a.ces 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 Britannicae Ecclesiae_, 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 gra.s.s-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, ent.i.tled _Histriola, a little Storye of the Actes and Life of Matthew, now Archbishop of Canterbury_. The two t.i.tle-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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 10.--_Parker. De antiqvitate Britannicae Ecclesiae.

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 Dominicae 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 cl.u.s.ters, formed with st.i.tches 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FIG. 11.--_Orationis Dominicae 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 sc.r.a.ped 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 _h.o.r.es Historiarvm, per Matthaevm 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 semee 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 cuira.s.ses, 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 "semee," its use having come into fashion in that country a little earlier than the date of this book.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 t.i.tle-page--"Presented to the Queen's own hands by Mr. Fox."

A copy, printed in London in 1575, of Grant's _Graecae Linguae 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 semee of small roses. Among the old royal ma.n.u.scripts is a curious book, _Scholarum Etonensis ovatio de adventu Reginae Elizabethae_, 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 semee 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 semee 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: 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 Const.i.tutions 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.

[Ill.u.s.tration: [Greek: BASILIKON DoRON]. 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 ma.n.u.script of this work is now part of the old royal library in the British Museum; and although a study of this most interesting ma.n.u.script 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 doc.u.ments 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. G.o.d 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 quant.i.ty 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 subst.i.tuted 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 Ma.n.u.script 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 ma.n.u.script 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 semees, which form of ornamentation was used for James I. more than for any other sovereign. The semees generally consist of small lions pa.s.sant, 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 ill.u.s.tres_, 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 Ma.n.u.script 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 patee, 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.