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[Illustration: Passionale, etc., MS., _circa_ 1100 A.D. Henry I.]




  ROYAL ENGLISH BOOKBINDINGS


  _By_ CYRIL DAVENPORT, F.S.A.
  _Of the Department of Printed Books, British Museum_


  LONDON
  SEELEY AND CO. LIMITED, GREAT RUSSELL STREET
  NEW YORK: THE MACMILLAN CO.
  1896




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


_COLOURED PLATES_

                                                                      PAGE

  I. Passionale, etc., MS., _circa_
  1100 A.D.                                   Henry I.      _Frontispiece_

  II. Penitential Psalms, etc., MS.,
  sixteenth century                           Henry VIII.               16

  Novum Testamentum Graece. Lutetiae, 1550
  (gold centres)                              Queen Elizabeth           16

  III. Deloenus. Libellus de tribus
  Hierarchiis, etc., MS.                      Henry VIII.               18

  IV. [Greek: BASILIKON DORON.] Written
  for Prince Henry, by King James VI. of
  Scotland. MS                                James I.                  54

  V. Ortelius. Theatre of the World.
  London, 1606                                Do.                       58

  VI. New Testament, etc. London, 1643        Charles I.                66

  VII. Gil. [Greek: PARERGA], etc.
  Londini, 1632                               Do.                       68

  VIII. Order of the Coronation of George
  III. and Queen Charlotte. London, 1761      George III.               94


_ILLUSTRATIONS IN THE TEXT_

  Indentures between Henry VII. and John
  Islippe, Abbot of Westminster, concerning
  the foundation of the Chantrey, etc., MS.   Henry VII.                11

  Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiae
  Potestatis et Ecclesiasticae. Londini,
  1534                                        Henry VIII.               15

  Description of the Holy Land, in French.
  By Martin Brion. MS.                        Do.                       17

  Le Chappellet de Ihesus, MS., sixteenth
  century                                     Margaret Tudor,
                                              Queen of James IV.
                                              of Scotland               21

  Il Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544                 Queen Katharine Parr      23

  Prayers, etc. Malborow, 1538 (Doublure)     Edward VI.                29

  Queen Mary's Psalter, MS.                   Queen Mary                33

  Prayers, etc. London, 1574-1591             Queen Elizabeth           35

  Christian Meditations, in Latin, 1570       Do.                       37

  Parker. De antiqvitate Britannicae
  Ecclesiae. London, 1572                      Do.                       41

  Orationis Dominicae Explicatio, per L.
  Danaeum. Genevae, 1583                      Do.                       45

  La Saincte Bible. Lyon, 1566                Do.                       47

  Gospels in Anglo-Saxon and English.
  London, 1571                                Do.                       49

  Trogi Pompeii Historiarum Philippicarum
  epitoma. Parisiis, 1581                     Do.                       53

  Livius. Romana Historia. Avreliae
  Allobrogvm, 1609                            Henry Prince of Wales     61

  Collection of Miscellaneous Tracts in
  MS.                                         Do.                       63

  Dallington. Aphorismes, Civill and
  Militarie. London, 1613                     Charles Prince of Wales   67

  Common Prayer. London, 1662                 Charles II.               69

  A short View of the late Troubles in
  England, etc. Oxford, 1681                  Do.                       73

  Bible. Cambridge, 1674                      James II.                 75

  Euclide. Oxford, 1705                       Queen Anne                79

  AElfric. An English-Saxon Homily on the
  Birthday of St. Gregory. London, 1709       Queen Anne                81

  Account of what passed in a Conference
  concerning the Succession to the Crown,
  MS.                                         George I.                 85

  Le Nouveau Testament. Amsterdam, 1718       George II.                87

  Chandler. A Vindication of the Defence
  of Christianity. London, 1728               Do.                       88

  Common Prayer. Cambridge, 1760              Queen Charlotte           90

  Portfolio containing the Royal Letter
  concerning the King's Library               George IV.                92

_The  Plates are printed by Edmund Evans._




ROYAL ENGLISH BOOKBINDINGS




PROLOGUE


It is curious that twice in English history the royal libraries have been
given to the nation. The ancient royal collection, containing manuscripts
from the reign of Richard III., was added to by each sovereign in turn;
but it seems to have been brought into notice and taken special care of by
Prince Henry, the eldest son of James I. Out of his own private income,
this Prince added largely to the old collection, and purchased the
important libraries of Lord Lumley, of a Welshman named Maurice, and that
of Isaac Casaubon. On his death the library became the property of James
I., and after some other changes, both the old library and that of Prince
Henry were deposited at Ashburnham House, where in 1731 there was a fire
which damaged some of it. It was then removed to the old Dormitory at
Westminster, and in 1757 it was presented by George II. to the nation, and
was handed over to the Trustees of the Sloane and Cottonian Libraries, and
placed in Montagu House, then newly purchased as a National Museum. There
were at this time in the old royal library about 15,000 volumes
altogether, and very many of them were still in their ancient and
beautiful bindings.

George III., finding on his accession to the throne that there was no
royal library, very energetically set to work to form a new collection. He
chose his agents very carefully, and appointed Sir Frederick Barnard to be
his librarian. Sir Frederick travelled widely in search of books, and,
acting partly under the advice of Dr. Samuel Johnson, eventually brought
together perhaps the finest collection of books ever made by one man. On
the king's death the library contained upwards of 65,000 volumes, besides
more than 19,000 separate tracts and some manuscripts.

Generally speaking, the bindings in the "King's Library"--the name by
which George III.'s collection is now known in the British Museum--are
modern; but among them are a considerable number of old bindings in good
condition, and it is possible that those which were rebound were mostly in
a bad state. Unfortunately the crowned monogram of George III. is
generally impressed in a prominent place, even on such old bindings as
have been otherwise preserved intact; and although valuable as a record it
is often a great disfigurement. There is little doubt that George III.'s
intention was to create a new royal library to remain in the possession of
the kings themselves, but there seems to have been some idea that it would
eventually become national property, as Dr. Frederick Wendeborn, a German
preacher, well known at Court, wrote: "The King's Private Library... can
boast very valuable and magnificent books, which, as it is said, will at
one time or another be joined to those of the British Museum." This
prediction was fulfilled in 1823, when George IV. presented it to the
nation, and the fine room now known as the King's Library in the British
Museum was built for its reception, the removal being completed in 1828.

William IV. does not seem to have been altogether pleased that the royal
libraries should have been twice given away, as he added a codicil to his
will in 1833, bequeathing to the Crown "all his additions to the libraries
in the several royal palaces," with an autograph confirmation dated from
Brighton, November 30, 1834, signed and sealed by himself, declaring "that
all the books, drawings, and plans collected in all the palaces shall for
ever continue heirlooms to the Crown, and on no pretence whatever to be
alienated from the Crown."

The royal library at Windsor now contains the greatest number of royal
bindings now existing in any one collection, except those at the British
Museum, but it possesses very few that belonged to Tudor sovereigns. From
the time of James I. it has a very fine collection.

Where I have not specifically mentioned otherwise, the books described in
the following pages are in the British Museum. They should be to the
English people especially interesting, for not only are they national
property, but any of them can be seen with little trouble, and a
considerable number are actually exhibited in the binding show-cases in
the King's Library, or in the Grenville Library.




CHAPTER I

HENRY I.--EDWARD VI.--HENRY VII.--HENRY VIII.--KATHARINE OF ARRAGON--ANNE
BOLEYN--MARGARET TUDOR--MARY TUDOR--KATHARINE PARR


The rulers of England and of France have, ever since the introduction of
printing into Europe, been great patrons of books, and moreover have by
their individual tastes, both literary and artistic, largely influenced
the styles of bookbinding prevalent during their reigns.

In England from the time of Henry VII. onwards, and in France from Louis
XII., a noble series of royal bookbindings exists at the present time, and
may be considered with justice to be typical of the best work done at the
different periods. Although there are a few great binders who do not
appear, as far as is at present known, to have worked for royalty, there
is no doubt that most of the great masters of this most fascinating art
were at some time or other privileged to work for the sovereign houses of
their time, if indeed they were not actually royal binders.

Before printing was introduced into England in the fifteenth century by
William Caxton, there is little or no record of any special collection of
books made by any English sovereign. It is possible no such collection
ever was made, but if it were, all trace and record of it is now lost.
Rich 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 x 4-1/2
inches. It is a manuscript on vellum of lessons from the four gospels in
Latin, written in the twelfth century; it also contains the whole of the
Gospel of St. John except a small portion missing, and some other MSS. The
binding is of thick wooden boards, covered probably with deer-skin. The
lower cover has a sunk panel, and bears a crucified figure of our Lord
cast in bronze, finely chased and formerly gilt. The corners are guarded
with bossed pieces of brass, stamped with a device of a fleur-de-lis
within a circle, and there is a clasp of leather and brass. The figure of
our Lord appears distinctly old, but the rest of the metal work has not
such evidence of antiquity, and it seems likely that it is much more
recent. Inside the book are several manuscript notes by various owners,
the most interesting of which is signed by John Ives, at "Yarmouth, St.
Luke's Day, 1772." He says this "appears to be the original book on which
our Kings and Queens took their coronation oaths before the Reformation."
In Powell's _Repertoire of Records_, 1631, at p. 123, he mentions "a
little booke with a crucifix" as being preserved in the chest of the
King's Remembrancer at the Exchequer.

Mr. Thomas Martin of Palgrave, owner of the book in the beginning of the
eighteenth century, at one time lent it to Mr. Thomas Madox, author of
the _History of the Exchequer_, and his opinion was that it was the book
formerly belonging to the Exchequer, mentioned by Powell, and which was
used to take the coronation oath upon by all our kings and queens till
Henry VIII.

It belonged afterwards to Mr. Thomas Astle, F.S.A., Keeper of the Records
in the Tower of London, who died in 1803, and whose library was purchased
by the Marquis of Buckingham and kept at Stowe in a beautiful Gothic room
specially built for it. In June 1849 the library became the property of
Lord Ashburnham, and from him it was purchased in 1883 by the Trustees of
the British Museum, excepting the Irish MSS., which went to Dublin. This
collection