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Edited bv Alfred Pollard
VOLUME I
ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BOOKBINDINGS
By CYRIL DAVENPORT, F.S.A.
VOLUME II
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ENGLISH PRINTING
Bv H. R. PLOMER
VOLUME III
ENGLISH BOOK COLLECTORS
By W. Y. FLETCHER
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER & CO., LIMITED
ENGLISH
EMBROIDERED
BOOKBINDINGS
^
ig Christopherson, Historia Ecclesiastica.
Lovanii, 1569.
:^'^*f
509-
EDITED BY
ALFRED POLLARD
ENGLISH
EMBROIDERED
BOOKBINDINGS
BY CYRIL DAVENPORT, F.S.A.
AUTHOR OF
'THE ENGLISH REGALIA'
ETC.
LONDON
KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TRUBNER
AND COMPANY, LIMITED
1899
C|)e <2ngU.st)
'Boofeman'0
litjrarp
/ ^/S"
Edinburgh : T. and A. Cohstaile, Printers to Her Majesty
CONTENTS AND LIST OF PLATES
General Introduction,
By Alfred W. Pollard.
PAGE
ix
ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
By Cyril Davenport.
Chapter I. — Introductory,
PLATES.
Embroidered Bag for Psalms. London, 1633,
2. Embroidered Cover for New Testament.
1640, ....
London,
Chapter II. — Books Bound in Canvas,
6.
7-
8.
9-
10.
II.
12.
13-
14.
PLATES.
The Felbrigge Psalter. 13th-century MS.,
The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul.
the Princess Elizabeth. 1544,
Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr. MS
Princess Elizabeth. 1545,
Christian Prayers. London, 1581,
Psalms and Common Praier. London, 1606,
Bible, etc. London, 161 2,
Sermons by Samuel Ward. London, 1626-7,
New Testament, etc. London, 1625-35,
The Daily Exercise of a Christian. London,
Bible. London, 1626,
Bible, etc. London, 1642,
Bible. London, 1648,
MS. by
by the
1623,
17
18
28
29
32
33
37
38
39
41
42
44
45
48
49
vi CONTENTS AND LIST OF PLATES
PAGE
Chapter III.— Books Bound in Velvet, . 52
PLATES.
15. Trhs ample description de toute la terre Saincte,
etc. MS. 1540, . . . . -52
16. Biblia. Tigun, 1543, . . . -54
17. II Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544, . . . -55
18. Queen Mary's Psalter. 14th-century MS., . '57
19. Christopherson, Historia Ecclesiastica.
Lovanii, 1569, . . . . Frontispiece
20. Christian Prayers. London, 1570, . . -59
a I. Parker, De antiquitate Ecclesise Britannicse.
London, iS72i • . • .60
22. The Epistles of St. Paul. London, i$i^, . . 63
23. Christian Prayers, etc. London, 1584, . . 65
24. Orationis Dominicae Explicatio, etc. Genevce, jt,S^, 67
25. Bible. London, 1583, . . . .68
26. The Commonplaces of Peter Martyr. London, 1^8;^, 69
27. Biblia. Aniverpia, 1590, . . . -7°
28. Udall, Sermons. London, 1596, . . '71
29. Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts, . •7*
30. Bacon, Opera. Londini, 1623, . . -75
31. Bacon, Essays. 1625, . . . -76
32. Common Prayer. London, 1638, . . -77
33. Bible. Cambridge, 1674, . . . -78
Chapter IV. — Books Bound in Satin, . 80
PLATES.
34. Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts,
35. New Testament in Greek. Leyden, 1576,
36. Bible. London, 161 9,
37. Emblemes Chrestiens. MS. 1624, .
38. New Testament. London, 1625,
80
8i
84
85
86
CONTENTS AND LIST OF PLATES vii
39. New Testament and Psalms. London, 1630,
40. Henshaw, Horae Successivae. ' London, 1O32,
41. Psalms. London, 1633,
42. Psalms. London, 1635,
43. Psalms. London, 1633,
44. Bible. London, 1638,
45. Psalms. London, 1639,
46. The Way to True Happiness. London, 1639
47. New Testament. London, 1640,
48. Psalms. London, 1641,
49. Psalms. London, 1643,
50. Psalms. London, 1643,
51. Psalms. London, 1646,
52. Bible. London, 1646,
PAGE
89
90
92
94
96
98
99
lOI
103
105
106
108
109
GENERAL INTRODUCTION
NEW series of ' Books about
Books,' exclusively English in its
aims, may seem to savour of the
patriotism which, in matters of
art and historical research, is, with
reason enough, often scoffed at as a treacherous
guide. No doubt in these pleasant studies
patriotism acts as a magnifying-glass, making
us unduly exaggerate details. On the other hand,
it encourages us to try to discover them, and
just at present this encouragement seems to be
needed. There are so many gaps in our know-
ledge of the history of books in England that
we can hardly claim that our own dwelling is set
in order, and yet many of our bookmen appear
more inclined to re-decorate their neighbours'
houses than to do work that still urgently needs
to be done at home. The reasons for this trans-
ference of energy are not far to seek. It is quite
easy to be struck with the inferiority of English
books and their accessories, such as bindings and
illustrations, to those produced on the Continent.
b
X GENERAL INTRODUCTION
To compare the books printed by Caxton with
the best work of his German or Italian con-
temporaries, to compare the books bound for
Henry, Prince of Wales, with those bound for
the Kings of France, to try to find even a dozen
English books printed before 1640 with woodcuts
(not imported from abroad) of any real artistic
merit — if any one is anxious to reinforce his
national modesty, here are three very efficacious
methods of doing it ! On the other hand, English
book-collectors have always been cosmopolitan in
their tastes, and without leaving England it is
possible to study to some effect, in public or
private libraries, the finest books of almost any
foreign country. It is small wonder, therefore,
that our bookmen, when they have been minded
to write on their hobbies, have sought beauty and
stateliness of work where they could most readily
find them, and that the labourers in the book-
field of our own country are not numerous.
Touchstone's remark, 'a poor thing, but mine
own,' might, on the worst view of the case, have
suggested greater diligence at home ; but on a
wider view English book-work is by no means
a ' poor thing.' Its excellence at certain periods
is as striking as its inferiority at others, and it
is a literal fact that there is no art or craft
ENGLISH PRINTING ' xi
connected with books in which England, at one
time or another, has not held the primacy in
Europe.
It would certainly be unreasonable to complain
that printing with movable types was not invented
at a time better suited to our national convenience.
Yet the fact that the invention was made just in
the middle of the fifteenth century constituted a
handicap by which the printing trade in this
country was for generations overweighted. At
almost any earlier period, more particularly from
the beginning of the fourteenth century to the
first quarter of the fifteenth, England would have
been as well equipped as any foreign country to
take its part in the race. From the production of
Queen Mary's Psalter at the earlier date to that
of the Sherborne Missal at the later, English
manuscripts, if we may judge from the scanty
specimens which the evil days of Henry viii.
and Edward vi. have left us, may vie in beauty
of writing and decoration with the finest examples
of Continental art. If John Siferwas, instead of
William Caxton, had introduced printing into
England, our English incunabula would have
taken a far higher place. But the sixty odd years
which separate the two men were absolutely
disastrous to the English book-trade. After her
xii GENERAL INTRODUCTION
exhausting and futile struggle with France, Eng-
land was torn asunder by the wars of the Roses,
and by the time these were ended the school of
illumination, so full of promise, and seemingly
so firmly established, had absolutely died out.
When printing was introduced England possessed
no trained illuminators or skilful scribes such
as in other countries were forced to make the
best of the new art in order not to lose their
living, nor were there any native wood-engravers
ready to illustrate the new books. I have never
myself seen or heard of a ' Caxton ' in which an
illuminator has painted a preliminary border or
initial letters ; even the rubrication, where it exists,
is usually a disfigurement ; while as for pictures,
it has been unkindly said that inquiry whence
they were obtained is superfluous, since any boy
with a knife could have cut them as well.
Making its start under these unfavourable
conditions, the English book-trade was exposed
at once to the full competition of the Continental
presses, Richard iii. expressly excluding it from
the protection which was given to other in-
dustries. Practically all learned books of every
sort, the great majority of our service-books,
most grammars for use in English schools, and
even a few popular books of the kind to which
ENGLISH PRINTING xiii
Caxton devoted himself, were produced abroad
for the English market and freely imported.
Only those who mistake the shadow for the
substance will regret this free trade, to which
we owe the development of scholarship in
England during the sixteenth century. None
the less, it was hard on a young industry, and
though Pynson, Wynkyn de Worde, the Faques,
Berthelet, Wolfe, John Day, and others produced
fine books in England during the sixteenth
century, the start given to the Continental presses
was too great, and before our printers had fully
caught up their competitors, they too were seized
with the carelessness and almost incredible bad
taste which marks the books of the first half of
the seventeenth century in every country of
Europe.
Towards the close of the eighteenth century,
as is well known, the French thought sufficiently
well of Baskerville's types to purchase a fount after
his death for the printing of an important edition
of the works of Voltaire. But the merits of
Baskerville as a printer, never very cordially
admitted, are now more hotly disputed than ever ;
and if I am asked at what period English printing
has attained that occasional primacy which I have
claimed for our exponents of all the bookish arts.
xiv GENERAL INTRODUCTION
I would boldly say that it possesses it at the
present day. On the one hand, the Kelmscott
Press books, on their own lines, are the finest
and the most harmonious which have ever been
produced ; on the other, the book-work turned
out in the ordinary way of business by the five
or six leading printers of England and Scotland
seems to me, both in technical qualities and in
excellence of taste, the finest in the world, and
with no rival worth mentioning, except in the
work of one or two of the best firms in the United
States. Moreover, as far as I can learn, it is only
in Great Britain and America that the form of
books is now the subject of the ceaseless experi-
ment and ingenuity which are the signs of a
period of artistic activity.
As regards book-illustration the same claim
may be put forward, though with a little more
hesitation. We have been taught lately, with
insistence, that ' the sixties ' marked an epoch
in English art, solely from the black and white
work in illustrated books. At that period our
book-pictures are said to have been the best in
the world ; unfortunately our book-decoration,
whether better or worse than that of other
countries, was almost unmitigatedly bad. In
the last quarter of a century our decorative work
BOOK-ILLUSTRATION xv
has improved in the most striking manner ; our
illustrations, if judged merely for their pictorial
qualities, have not advanced. In the eyes of
artists the sketches for book-work now being
produced in other countries are probably as good
as our own. But an illustration is not merely
a picture, it is a picture to be placed in a certain
position in a printed book, and in due relation
to the size of the page and the character of the
type. English book-illustrators by no means
always realise this distinction, yet there is on
the whole a greater feeling for these proprieties
in English books than in those of other countries,
and this is an important point in estimating
merits. Another important point is that the rule
of the ' tint ' or ' half-tone ' block, with its inevit-
able accompaniment of loaded paper, ugly to the
eye and heavy in the hand, though it has seriously
damaged English illustrated work, has not yet
gained the predominance it has in other countries.
Our best illustrated books are printed from line-
blocks, and there are even signs of a possible
revival of artistic wood-engraving.
In endeavouring to make good my assertion
of what I have called the occasional primacy of
English book-work, I am not unaware of the
danger of trying, or seeming to try, to play the
xvi GENERAL INTRODUCTION
strains of * Rule Britannia ' on my own poor penny
whistle. As regards manuscripts, therefore, it
is a pleasure to be able to seek shelter behind
the authority of Sir Edward Maunde Thompson,
whose words in this connection carry all the
more weight, because he has shown himself a
severe critic of the claims which have been put
forward on behalf of several fine manuscripts to
be regarded as English. In the closing para-
graphs of his monograph on English Illuminated
Manuscripts he thus sums up the pretensions of
the English school : —
' The freehand drawing of our artists under the Anglo-Saxon
kings was incomparably superior to the dead copies from Byzan-
tine models which were in favour abroad. The artistic instinct
was not destroyed, but rather strengthened, by the incoming
of Norman influence ; and of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries
there is abundant material to show that English book-decoration
was then at least equal to that of neighbouring countries. For
our art of the early fourteenth century we claim a still higher
position, and contend that no other nation could at that time
produce such graceful drawing. Certainly inferior to this high
standard of drawing was the work of the latter part of that
century ; but still, as we have seen, in the miniatures of this
time we have examples of a rising school of painting which bid
fair to attain to a high standard of excellence, and which only
failed for political causes.' ^
To this judicial pronouncement on the excel-
1 English Illuminated Manuscripts. By Sir Edward Maunde Thompson,
K.C.B. (Kegan Paul, 1895), pp. 66, 67.
GREAT COLLECTORS xvii
lence of English manuscripts on their decorative
side, we may fairly add the fact that manuscripts
of literary importance begin at an earlier date in
England than in any other country, and that the
Cotton MS. oi Beowzclf ^Lud the miscellanies which
go by the names of the Exeter Book and the
Vercelli Book have no contemporary parallels in
the rest of Europe.
When we turn from books, printed or in manu-
script, to their possessors, it is only just to begin
with a compliment to our neighbours across the
Channel. No English bookman holds the unique
position of Jean Grolier, and ' les femmes biblio-
philes ' of England have been few and undistin-
guished compared with those of France. Grolier,
however, and his fair imitators, as a rule, bought
only the books of their own day, giving them
distinction by the handsome liveries which they
made them don. Our English collectors have more
often been of the omnivorous type, and though
Lords Lumley and Arundel in the sixteenth
century cannot, even when their forces are joined,
stand up against De Thou, in Sir Robert Cotton,
Harley, Thomas Rawlinson, Lord Spencer, Heber,
Grenville, and Sir Thomas Phillips (and the list
might be doubled without much relaxation of
the standard), we have a succession of English
xviii GENERAL INTRODUCTION
collectors to whom it would be difficult to produce
foreign counterparts. Round these dii niajores
have clustered innumerable demigods of the book-
market, and certainly in no other country has
collecting been as widely diffused, and pursued
with so much zest, as in England during the
present century. It is to be regretted that so
few English collectors have cared to leave their
marks of ownership on the books they have taken
so much pleasure in bringing together. Michael
Wodhull was a model in this respect, for his book-
stamp is one of the most pleasing of English
origin, and his autograph notes recording the
prices he paid for his treasures, and his assiduous
collation of them, make them doubly precious in
the eyes of subsequent owners. Mr. Grenville
also had his book-stamp, though there is little
joy to be won from it, for it is unpleasing in
itself, and is too often found spoiling a fine old
binding. Mr. Cracherode's stamp was as grace-
ful as Wodhull's ; but, as a rule, our English
collectors, though, as Mr. Fletcher is discovering,
many more of them than is generally known have
possessed a stamp, have not often troubled to use
it, and their collections have never obtained the
reputation which they deserve, mainly for lack
of marks of ownership to keep them green in
BOOK-PLATES xix
the memory of later possessors. That this should
be so in a country where book-plates have been
so common may at first seem surprising. But
book-plates everywhere have been used rather
by the small collectors than the great ones, and
the regrettable peculiarity of our English book-
men is, not that they despised this rather fugitive
sign of possession, but that for the most part
they despised book-stamps as well.
Of book-plates themselves I have no claim to
speak ; but for good taste and grace of design
the best English Jacobean and Chippendale speci-
mens seem to me the most pleasing of their kind,
and certainly in our own day the work of Mr.
Sherborn has no rival, except in that of Mr.
French, who, in technique, would, I imagine,
not refuse to call himself his disciple.
I have purposely left to the last the subject
of Bindings, as this, being more immediately
cognate to Mr. Davenport's book, may fairly be
treated at rather greater length. If the French
dictum ' la reliure est un art tout fran^ais ' is not
without its historical justification, it is at least
possible to show that England has done much
admirable work, and that now and again, as in
the other bookish arts, she has attained pre-
eminence.
XX GENERAL INTRODUCTION
The first point which may fairly be made is
that England is the only country besides France
in which the art has been consistently practised.
In Italy, binding, like printing, flourished for a
little over half a century with extraordinary vigour
and grace, and then fell suddenly and completely
from its high estate. From 1465 to the death
of Aldus the books printed in Italy were the
finest in the world ; from the beginning of the
work of Aldus to about 1560 Italian bindings
possess a freedom of graceful design which even
the superior technical skill quickly gained by the
French does not altogether outbalance. But just
as after about 1520 a finely printed Italian book
can hardly be met with, so after 1560, save for
a brief period during which certain fan-shaped
designs attained prettiness, there have been no
good Italian bindings. In Germany, when in
the fifteenth century, before the introduction of
gold tooling, there was a thriving school of binders
working in the mediaeval manner, the Renaissance
brought with it an absolute decline. Holland,
again, which in the fifteenth century had made
a charming use of large panel stamps, has since
that period had only two binders of any reputa-
tion, Magnus and Poncyn, of Amsterdam, who
worked for the Elzdviers and Louis xiv. Of
ENGLISH BINDINGS xxi
Spanish bindings few fine specimens have been
unearthed, and these are all early. Only England
. can boast that, like France, she has possessed one
school of binders after another, working with
varying success from the earliest times down to
the present century, in which bookbinding all
over Europe has suffered from the servility with
which the old designs, now for the first time
fully appreciated, have been copied and imitated.
In this length of pedigree it must be noted
that England far surpasses even France herself.
The magnificent illuminated manuscripts, the
finest of their age, which were produced at
Winchester during the tenth century, were no
doubt bound in the jewelled metal covers of
which the rapacity of the sixteenth century has
left hardly a single trace in this country. But
early in the twelfth century, if not before, the
Winchester bookmen turned their attention also
to leather binding, and the school of design which
they started, spreading to Durham, London, and
Oxford, did not die out in England until it was
ousted by the large panel stamps introduced from
France at the end of the fifteenth. The pre-
dominant feature of these Winchester bindings
(of which a fine example from the library of
William Morris recently sold for £i8o), and of
xxii GENERAL INTRODUCTION
their successors, is the employment of small
stamps, from half an inch to an inch in size,
sometimes circular, more often square or pear-
shaped, and containing figures, grotesques, or
purely conventional designs. A circle, or two
half-circles, formed by the repetition of one stamp,
within one or more rectangles formed by others,
is perhaps the commonest scheme of decoration,
but it is the characteristic of these bindings, as of
the finest in gold tooling, that by the repetition
of a few small patterns an endless variety of
designs could be built up. ^ The British Museum
possesses a few good examples of this stamp-
work, but the finest collections of them are in
the Cathedral libraries at Durham and Hereford.
Any one, however, who is interested in this work
can easily acquaint himself with it by consulting
the unique collection of rubbings carefully taken
by Mr. Weale and deposited in the National Art
Library at the South Kensington Museum. In
these rubbings, as in no other way, the history of
English binding can be studied from the earliest
Winchester books to the charming Oxford bind-
ings executed by Thomas Hunt, the English
partner of the Cologne printer, Rood, about 1481.
During the first half of this period the English
leather binders were the finest in Europe ; during
ENGLISH BINDINGS xxiii
the second, the Germans pressed them hard, and
when the large panel stamps, three or four inches
square and more, were introduced in Holland and
France, the English adaptations of them were
distinctly inferior to the originals. The earliest
English bindings with gold tooling were, of
course, also imitative. The use of gold reached
this country but slowly, as the first known Eng-
lish binding, in which it occurs, is on a book
printed in 1541, by which time the art had been
common in Italy for a generation. The English
bindings found on books bound for Henry viii.,
Edward vi., and Mary i., all of which are roughly
assigned to Berthelet as the Royal binder, re-
semble the current Italian designs of the day,
with sufficient differences to make it probable
that they were produced by Englishmen. We
know, however, that until the close of the century
there were occasional complaints of the presence
of foreign binders in London, and it is probable
that the Grolieresque bindings executed for
Wotton were foreign rather than English. Where,
however, we find work on English books dis-
tinctly unlike anything in France or Italy, it is
reasonable to assign it to a native school, and
such a school seems to have grown up about
1570, in the workshop of John Day, the helper of
xxlv GENERAL INTRODUCTION
Archbishop Parker in so many of his literary
undertakings. These bindings attributed to Day,
especially those in which he worked with white
leather on brown, although they have none of the
French delicacy of tooling, perhaps for this reason
attack the problem of decoration with a greater
sense of the difference between the styles suitable
for a large book and a small than is always found
in France, where the greatest binders, such as
Nicholas Eve and Le Gascon, often covered large
folios with endless repetitions of minute tools
whose full beauty can only be appreciated on
duodecimos or octavos. The English designs
with a large centre ornament and corner-pieces are
rich and impressive, and we may fairly give Day
and his fellows the palm for originality and effec-
tiveness among Elizabethan binders. In the
next reign the French use of the semd or powder,
a single small stamp, of a fleur-de-lys, a thistle, a
crown, or the like, impressed in rows all over the
cover, was increasingly imitated in England, very
unsuccessfully, and, save for a few traces of the
style of Day, the leather bindings of the first third
of the century deserve the worst epithets which
can be given them.
Until, however, French fashions came into
vogue after the Restoration, English binders had
ENGLISH BINDINGS xxv
never been content to regard leather as the sole
material in which they could work. Embroidered
bindings had come early into use in England, and
a Psalter embroidered by Anne Felbrigge towards
the close of the fourteenth century is preserved
at the British Museum, and shown in one of Mr.
Davenport's illustrations. In the sixteenth century
embroidered work was very popular with the
Tudor princesses, gold and silver thread and
pearls being largely used, often with very decora-
tive effect. The simplest of these covers are also
the best — but great elaboration was often em-
ployed, and on a presentation copy of Archbishop
Parker's De Antiquitate Ecclesice BritanniccB
we find a clever but rather grotesque representa-
tion of a deer-paddock. Under the Stuarts the
lighter feather-stitch was preferred, and there
seems to have been a regular trade in embroidered
Bibles and Prayer-books of small size, sometimes
with floral patterns, sometimes with portraits of
the King, or Scriptural scenes. A dealer's freak
which compelled the British Museum to buy a
pair of elaborate gloves of the period rather than
lose a finely embroidered Psalter, with which they
went, was certainly a fortunate one, enabling us
to realise that in hands thus gloved these little
bindings, always pretty, often really artistic, must
d
xxvl GENERAL INTRODUCTION
have looked exactly right, while their vivid col-
ours must have been admirably in harmony with
the gay Cavalier dresses.
Besides furnishing a ground for embroidery,
velvet bindings were often decorated, in England,
with goldsmith work. One of the most beautiful
little bookcovers in existence is on a book of
prayers, bound for Queen Elizabeth in red velvet,
with a centre and corner pieces delicately en-
amelled on gold. Under the Stuarts, again, we
frequently find similar ornaments in engraved
silver, and their charm is incontestable.
Thus while for English bindings of this period
in gilt leather we can only claim that Berthelet's
show some freedom in their adaptation of Italian
models, and Day's a more decided originality, we
are entitled to set side by side with this scanty
record a host of charming bindings in more femi-
nine materials, which have no parallel in France,
and certainly deserve some recognition. After
the Restoration, however, leather quickly ousted
its competitors, and a school of designers and
gilders arose in England, which, while taking its
first inspiration from Le Gascon, soon developed
an individual style. In effectiveness, though
not in minute accuracy of execution, this may
rank with the best in Europe. We can trace the
ENGLISH BINDINGS xxvii
beginnings of this lighter and most graceful work
as early as the thirties, and it might be contended
with a certain plausibility that it began at the
Universities. Certainly the two earliest examples
known to me — the copy of her Statutes presented
to Charles i. by Oxford in 1634, and the Little
Gidding Hannony of 1635, the tools employed
in which have been shown by Mr. Davenport to
have been used also by Buck, of Cambridge — are
two of the finest English bindings in existence,
and in both cases, despite the multiplicity of the
tiny tools employed, there is a unity and largeness
of design which, as I have ventured to hint, is
not always found even in the best French work.
The chief English bindings after the Restoration,
those associated with the name of Samuel Mearne,
the King's Binder, preserve this character, though
the attempt to break the formality of the rectangle
by the bulges at the side and the little penthouses
at foot and head (whence its name, the ' cottage '
style) was not wholly successful. The use of the
labour-saving device of the ' roll,' in preference to
impressing each section of the pattern by hand,
is another blot. Nevertheless, it is almost im-
possible to find an English or Scotch binding of
this period which is less than charming, and the
best of them are admirable. At the beginning of
xxviii GENERAL INTRODUCTION
the eighteenth century a new grace was added
by the inlaying of a leather of a second colour.
These inlaid English bindings are few in number
(the British Museum has not a single fine example),
but those who know the specimens exhibited at
the Burlington Fine Arts Club, two of which are
figured in its Catalogue, will readily allow that
their grace has never been surpassed. The fine
Harleian bindings let us down gently from this
eminence, and then, after a period of mere dul-
ness, with the rise of Roger Payne we have again
an English school (for Payne's traditions were
worthily followed by Charles Lewis) which, by
common consent, was the finest of its time.
Payne's originality is, perhaps, not quite so ab-
solute as has been maintained, for some of his
tools were cut in the pattern of Mearne's, and it
would be possible to find suggestions for some of
his schemes of arrangement in earlier English
work. If he borrowed, however, he borrowed
from his English predecessors, and he brought
to his task an individuality and an artistic in-
stinct which cannot be denied.
After Payne and Lewis, English binding, like
French, became purely imitative in its designs ;
but while in our own decade the French artists
have endeavoured to shake themselves free from
ENGLISH BINDINGS xxix
old traditions by mere eccentricity, in England we
have several living binders, such as Mr. Cobden
Sanderson and Mr. Douglas Cockerell, who work
with notable originality and yet with the strictest
observance of the canons of their art.
Moreover in the application of decorative
designs to cloth cases England has invented, and
England and America have brought to perfection,
an inexpensive and very pleasing form of book-
cover, which gives the bookman ample time to
consider whether his purchase is worth the more
permanent honours of gilded leather, and also, by
the facts that it is avowedly temporary, and that
its decoration is cheaply and easily effected by
large stamps, renders forgivable vagaries of de-
sign, which when translated, as they have been
of late years in France, into the time-honoured
and solemn leather, seem merely incongruous and
irreverent.
In binding, then, as in the other bookish arts,
the part which English workers have played has
been no insignificant or unworthy one, and the
development of this art, as of the others, in our
own country is worthy of study. In this case
much has already been done, for the illustrations
of English Bookbindings at the British Museum,
edited, with introduction and descriptions by Mr.
XXX GENERAL INTRODUCTION
W. Y. Fletcher, present the student with the best
possible survey of the whole subject, while the
excellent treatises of Miss Prideaux and Mr.
Home bring English bookbinding into relation
with that of other countries. Here, then, there
is no need of a new general history, but rather of
special monographs, treating more in detail of
the periods at which our English binders have
done the best work. The old stamped bindings
of the days of manuscript, the embroidered bind-
ings of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the
leather bindings of Mearne and his fellows under
the later Stuarts, and the work of Roger Payne —
all these seem to offer excellent subjects for unpre-
tentious monographs, and it is hoped that others
of them besides the English Embroidered Bind-
ings, with which Mr. Davenport has made a
beginning, may be treated in this series.
In other subjects the ground has not yet been
cleared to the same extent, and for the history of
English Book-Collectors and English Printing,
not special monographs, but good general surveys
are the first need. To say much on this subject
might bring me perilously near to re-writing the
prospectus of this series. It is enough to have
pointed out that the bookish arts in England are
well worth more study than they have yet been
ENGLISH BINDINGS
XXXI
given, and that the pioneers who are endeavouring
to enlarge knowledge, each in his own section,
may fairly hope that their efforts will be received
with indulgence and good-will.
Alfred W. Pollard.
CHAPTER I
EMBROIDERED BOOKS
|HE application of needlework to the
embellishment of the bindings of
books has hitherto almost escaped
special notice. In most of the
works on the subject of English
Bookbinding, considered from the
decorative point of view in distinction from
the technical, a few examples of embroidered
covers have indeed received some share of atten-
tion. Thus in both Mr. H. B. Wheatley's and
Mr. W. Y. Fletcher's works on the bindings in
the British Museum, in Mr. Salt Brassington's
Historic Bindings in tJie Bodleian Library and
History of the Art of Bookbindings and in my
own Portfolio monograph on ' Royal English
Bookbindings,' some of the finer specimens of
embroidered books still existing are illustrated
and described. But up to the present no attempt
has been made to deal with them as a separate
subject. In the course, however, of the many
lectures on Decorative Bookbinding which it has
been my pleasure and honour to deliver during
2 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
the past few years, I have invariably noticed that
the pictures and descriptions of embroidered
specimens have been the most keenly appreciated,
and this favourable sign has led me to examine
and consider such examples as have come in my
way more carefully than I might otherwise have
done. Very little study sufficed to show that in
England alone there was for a considerable
period a regular and large production of em-
broidered books, and further, that the different
styles of these embroideries are clearly defined,
equally from the chronological and artistic points
of view. A peculiarly English art which thus
lends itself to orderly treatment may fairly be
made the subject of a brief monograph.
With the exception of point-lace, which is some-
times made in small pieces for such purposes as
ladies' cuffs or collars, decorative work produced
by the aid of the needle is generally large. Cer-
tainly this is so in its finest forms, which are
probably to be found in the ecclesiastical vest-
ments and in the altar frontals of the Renaissance
period, or even earlier. On the other hand, such
work as exists on books is always of small size,
and, unlike the point-lace, it almost invariably has
more than one kind of 'stitchery ' upon it — chain,
split, tapestry, satin, or what not.
Thus it can be claimed as a distinction for
embroidered book-covers that as a class they
are the smallest complete embroideries existing,
EMBROIDERED BOOKS 3
ranging upwards from about 6 inches by 3^
inches — the size of the smallest specimen known
to me, when opened out to its fullest extent,
sides and back in one. This covers a copy of
the Psalms, printed in London in 1635, and is of
white satin, with a small tulip worked in coloured
silk on each side.
An * Embroidered Book,' it should be said,
means for my purpose a book which is covered,
sides and back, by a piece of material ornamented
with needlework, following a design made for
the purpose of adorning that particular book. A
cover consisting of merely a piece of woven stuff,
or even a piece of true embroidery cut from a
'larger piece, is not, from my point of view, pro-
perly to be considered an ' embroidered book,' it
being essential that the design as well as the
workmanship should have been specially made for
the book on which they are found ; and this, in the
large majority of instances, is certainly the case.
With regard to the transference of bindings
to books other than those for which they were
originally made, such a transference has often
taken place in the case of mediasval books bound
in ornamental metal, but even in these instances
it must be recognised that such a change can
seldom be made without serious detriment. It is
chiefly indeed from some incongruity of style or
technical mistake in the re-putting together that
we are led to guess that the covers have been
4 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
thus tampered with. Now and then such a trans-
ference occurs in the case of leather-bound books,
and in such instances is usually easy for a trained
binder to detect. Embroidered covers, on the
other hand, have rarely been changed, the motive
for such a proceeding never having been strong,
and the risk attending it being obvious enough.
We may, in fact, feel tolerably sure that the large
majority of embroidered covers still remain on
the boards of the books they were originally
made for.
All the embroidered books now extant dating
from before the reign of Queen Elizabeth have
gone through the very unfortunate operation of
're-backing,' in the course of which the old em-'
broidered work is replaced by new leather. The
old head and tail bands, technically very in-
teresting, have been replaced by modern imita-
tions, and considerable damage has been done in
distorting the work left on the sides of the book.
It would seem obvious that a canvas, velvet, or
satin embroidered binding, if it really must be
re-backed or repaired at all, should be mended
with a material as nearly as possible of the same
make and colour as that of the original covering ;
but this has rarely been done, the large majority
of such repairs being executed in leather. But
in the case of such old bindings we must be
grateful for small mercies, and feel thankful that
even the sides are left in so many cases. It is
CLASSIFICATION 5
indeed surprising that we still possess as much
as we do. If all our great collectors had been
of the same mind as Henry Prince of Wales,
the Right Hon. Thomas Grenville, or even King
George iii., we should have been far worse off, as
although several fine old bindings exist in their
libraries, many which would now be priceless
have been destroyed, only to be replaced by com-
paratively modern bindings, sometimes the best
of their kind, but often in bad taste.
Division of Embroidered Books according
to the designs upon them.
The designs on embroidered books may be
roughly divided into four classes — Heraldic,
Figure, Floral, and Arabesque.
The Heraldic designs always denote ownership,
and are most frequently found on Royal books
bound in velvet, rarely occurring on silk or satin,
and never, as far as I have been able to ascertain,
on canvas. The Figure designs may be sub-
divided into three smaller classes, viz. : —
I. Scriptural, e.g. representations of Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba, Jacob wrest-
ling with the Angel, David, etc.
II. Symbolical, e.g. figures of Faith, Hope,
Peace, Plenty, etc.
III. Portraits, eg. of Charles i.. Queen Henri-
etta Maria, Duke of Buckingham, etc.
6 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
The Scriptural designs are most generally found
on canvas-bound books ; the Symbolical figures,
and Portraits, on satin, rarely on velvet. The
Floral and Arabesque designs are most common
on small and unimportant works bound in satin,
but they occur now and then on both canvas and
velvet books. The true arabesques have no
animal or insect forms among them, the prophet
Mohammed having forbidden his followers to
imitate any living thing.
It may further be noted that heraldic designs
on embroidered books are early, having been
made chiefly during the sixteenth century, and
that the figure, floral, and arabesque designs most
usually belong to the seventeenth century. There
are, of course, exceptions to these divisions, not-
ably in the case of the earliest existing embroi-
dered book, which has figure designs on both sides,
but also maintains its heraldic position, inasmuch
as its edges are decorated with coats-of-arms.
Naturally, again, it may be sometimes difficult
to decide whether a design should be classed as
heraldic or floral. Such a difficulty occurs as to
the large Bible at Oxford bound in red velvet for
Queen Elizabeth, and bearing a design of Tudor
and York roses. I consider it heraldic, but it
might, with no less appropriateness, be called
floral. If it had belonged to any one not a member
of the Royal family it would undoubtedly be
properly counted as a floral specimen. Again,
MATERIALS 7
in many of the portrait bindings flowers and
arabesques are introduced, but they are clearly
subordinate, and the chief decorative motive of
such designs must be looked for, and the work
classed accordingly. Thus it is evident that the
arrangement of the embroidered books by their
designs cannot be too rigidly applied, although it
should not be lost sight of altogether.
Division of Embroidered Books according to the
material on which they are worked.
A more useful and accurate classification may
however be found by help of the material on
which the embroidered work is done, and this
division is obvious and easy. With very few
exceptions all embroidered books, ancient and
modern, are worked on canvas, velvet, or satin,
and while canvas was used continuously from
the fourteenth century until the middle of the
seventeenth century, velvet was most largely used
during the Tudor period, and satin during that
of the early Stuarts.
Broadly speaking, the essential differences in
the kind of work found upon these three materials
follow the peculiarities of the materials them-
selves. Canvas, in itself of no decorative value,
is always completely covered with needlework.
Velvet, beautiful even when alone, but difficult
to work upon, usually has a large proportion of
8 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
appliqud, laid, or couched work, in coloured silk
or satin, upon it, showing always large spaces
unworked upon, and such actual work as occurs
directly on the velvet is always in thick guimp
or gold cord. Satin, equally beautiful in its way,
is also freely left unornamented in places ; the
needlework directly upon it is often very fine and
delicate in coloured floss silks, generally closely
protected by thick raised frames or edges of
metallic threads or fine gold or silver cords.
Fig. I. Fig. 2. Fig. 3.
Silken thread closely Silken thread loosely Strips of flat metal cut into
wound round with wound round with shapes and kept down by
strip of flat metal. strip of flat metal. small stitches at regular in-
tervals. Called ' Lizzarding."
By ' metallic ' threads, when they are not
simply fine wires, I mean strands of silk
closely (Fig. i) or loosely (Fig. 2) wound round
with narrow coils of thin metal, mostly silver or
silver gilt. The use of such threads, alone, or
twisted into cords, is common on all styles of em-
broidered books, and it is largely due to their use
that pieces of work apparently of the greatest
delicacy are really extremely durable — far more
MATERIALS 9
so than is generally supposed. Certainly if it
had not been for the efficient protection of these
little metal walls we should not possess, as we
actually do, delicate-looking embroidered books,
hundreds of years old, in almost as good con-
dition, except in the matter of colour, as when
they were originally made.
Thin pieces of metal are sometimes used alone,
caught down at regular intervals by small cross
stitches ; this is, I believe, called ' Lizzarding '
(Fig. 3). Metal is also found in the form of
'guimp,' in flattened spirals (Fig. 4), and also in
the ' Purl,' or copper wire covered with silk
(Fig. 5), so common on the later satin books
(compare p. 46).
Fig. 4. Fig. 5.
Edging made with a piece of spiral Loop made of a short length
wire hammered flat, appearing of Purl threaded, the ends
like a series of small rings. drawn together.
Spangles appear to have been introduced
during the reign of Elizabeth, but they were
never freely used on velvet, finding their proper
place ultimately on the satin books of a later
time. The spangles are generally kept in position
either by a small section of purl (Fig. 6) or a
seed pearl (Fig. 7), in both cases very efficaciously,
so that the use of guimp or pearl was not only
ornamental but served the same protective purpose
as the bosses on a shield, or those so commonly
B
lo ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
found upon the sides of the stamped leather bind-
ings of mediaeval books.
<^ @ e
Fig. 6. Fig. 7. Fig. 8.
Spangle kept in place Spangle kept in place Binder's stamp for gold
by a stitch through a by a stitch through a tooling, cut in imita-
short piece of Purl. seed pearL tion of a spangle.
It may be mentioned that the seventeenth-
century Dutch binders, Magnus and Poncyn,
both of Amsterdam, invented a new tool for
gilding on leather bindings, used, of course, in
combination with others. This was cut to imitate
the small circular spangles of the embroidered
books(Fig. 8), and the English and French finishers
of a later period used the same device with excel-
lent effect for filling up obtrusive spaces on the
sides and backs of their decorative bindings.
Thus it may be taken as an axiom that, for the
proper working of an embroidered book, except it
be tapestry-stitch or tent-stitch, on canvas, which
is flat and strong of itself, there should invariably
be a liberal use of metal threads, these being not
only very decorative in themselves, but also pro-
viding a valuable protection to the more delicate
needlework at a lower level, and to the material
of the ground itself.
The earliest examples of embroidered bindings
still existing are not by any means such as would
lead to the inference that they were exceptional
productions — made when the idea of the applica-
FORWARDING n
tion of needlework to the decoration of books was
in its infancy. On the contrary, they are instances
of very skilled workmanship, so that it is probable
that the art was practised at an earlier date
than we now have recorded. There are, indeed,
frequent notes in ' Wardrobe Accounts ' and else-
where of books bound in velvet and satin at a
date anterior to any now existing, but there is no
mention of embroidered work upon them.
The Forwarding of Embroidered Books.
The processes used in the binding of em-
broidered books are the same as in the case of
leather-bound books ; but there is one invariable
peculiarity — the bands upon which the different
sections of the paper are sewn are never in relief,
so that it was always possible to paste down a
piece of material easily along the back without
having to allow for the projecting bands so
familiar on leather bindings (Fig. 9). The backs,
moreover, are only rounded very slightly, if at all.
This flatness has been attained on the earlier
books either by sewing on flat bands, thin strips
of leather or vellum (Fig. 10), or by flattening
the usual hempen bands as much as they will
bear by the hammer, and afterwards filling up
the intermediate spaces with padding of some
suitable material, linen or thin leather.
In several instances the difficulty of flatten-
ing the bands has been solved, in sixteenth- and
12 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
seventeenth-century embroidered books, in a way
which cannot be too strongly condemned from a
constructive point of view, although it has served
its immediate purpose admirably.
A small trench has been cut with a sharp knife
for each band, deep enough to sink it to the general
level of the inner edges of the sections (Fig. 1 1).
Fig. 9.
Back of book sewn on
raised bands.
Fig. 10.
Band of flat vellum some-
times found on old booi<s
with flat backs.
Fig. II.
Typical appearance of a
book, before it is sewn,
with small trenches cut
in the back in which the
bands are to be laid ; a
bad method, but often
used to produce a flat
back.
This cutting of the back to
make room for the bands was
afterwards more easily effected
by means of a saw — as it is done now — and in
the eighteenth century was especially used by the
French binder Derome le Jeune, who is usually
made responsible for its invention.
The existence of the sunken bands on early
embroidered books probably marks the beginning
FORWARDING
13
of this vicious system, but here there is some
excuse for it, whereas in the case of ordinary
leather-bound books there is none, except from
the commercial standpoint.
In the case of vellum books there may be
some reason for using the ' sawn in ' bands, as it
is certainly difficult to get vellum to fit comfort-
ably over raised bands, although numerous early
instances exist in which it has been successfully
done. Again in the case of ' hollow backs,' the
bands are kept flat with some reason. But for
all valuable or finely bound books the system of
' sawing in ' cannot be too strongly condemned.
' Sawing in ' can be detected by looking at the
threads in the centre of any section of a bound
book from the inside. It will show as a small hole
with a piece of hemp or leather lying transversely
across it, under which the thread passes (Fig. 12).
Fig. 12.
Typical appearance of the sewing of a book with ' sawn in ' bands, as
seen Irom the inside of each section. The bands just visible.
14 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
In the case of a properly sewn book, the
bands themselves cannot be seen at all from the
inside of the sections, unless, indeed, the book
is damaged (Fig. 13). If the covering of the back
Fig. 13.
Typical appearance of the sewing of a book on raised bands, as seen from the
inside of each section. The bands invisible. Known as ' flexible."
is off, or even loose, the method of sewing that
has been used can very easily be seen ; and if it
appears that the bands are sunk in a small trench,
that is the form of sewing that is called ' sawn
in,' or analogous to it.
Although in the embroidered books the bands
of the backs do not show on the surface, it is
common enough to find the lines they probably
follow indicated in the work on the back, which
is divided into panels by as many transverse
lines, braid or cord, as there are bands under-
neath them. But in some cases the designer has
used the back as one long panel, and decorated
FORWARDING 15
it accordingly as one space. The headbands in
some of the earlier books were sewn at the same
time as the other bands on the sewing-press and
drawn in to the boards, but in most early bind-
ings the ravaging repairer has been at work and
made it impossible to know for certain what
was the state of the headbands before the book
came into his hands. Most of the existing head-
bands are made by hand in the usual way, with
the ends simply cut off, not indeed a very satis-
factory finish. It would be better if these ends
were somehow drawn in to the leather of the
back, as for instance they still often are on thin
vellum books.
The great majority of embroidered books, both
large and small, have had ties of silk on their
front edges — generally two, but sometimes only
one, which wraps round. These ties have gener-
ally worn away from the outer side of the boards,
but their ends can usually be traced (if the book
has not been repaired) in the inner side, covered
only by a thin piece of paper ; and if this paper
is loose, as often happens, and the ends show
well, it may often be advisable not to paste it
down again at that particular place.
The backs of old embroidered books are by
far the weakest parts about them. If they exist
at all in their old forms they are always much
worn, and the work upon them so much damaged
that it is often difficult to make out even the
i6 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
general character of the design, to say nothing of
the details of the workmanship.
The edges of the leaves of books bound in
England in embroidered bindings are always
ornamentally treated, sometimes simply gilded,
often further adorned with ' gauffred ' work, that
is to say, small patterns impressed on the gold,
and sometimes beautifully decorated with elabor-
ate designs having colour in parts as well. The
earliest English ornamentation of this kind in
colour is found on the Felbrigge Psalter and on
some of the books embroidered for Henry vm.,
one of which is richly painted on the fore edges
with heraldic designs, and another with a motto
written in gold on a delicately coloured ground.
Cases for Embroidered Books.
Common though the small satin embroidered
books must have been in England during the
earlier part of the seventeenth century, it is still
certain that the finer specimens were highly prized,
and beautifully worked bags were often made for
their protection. These bags are always of canvas,
and most of them are decorated in the same way,
the backgrounds of silver thread with a design
in tapestry- or tent-stitch, and having ornamental
strings and tassels. To describe one of these is
almost io describe all. The best preserved speci-
men I know belongs to a little satin embroidered
I— Embroidered Bag for Psal
ms.
London, i6;;.
EMBROIDERED BOOK-BAGS 17
copy of the Psalms, printed in London in 1633, and
measures 5 inches long by 4 inches in depth.
The same design is repeated on each side. A
parrot on a small grass-plot is in the middle of
the lower edge. Behind the bird grow two curv-
ing stems of thick gold braid, each curve contain-
ing a beautifully- worked flower or fruit. In the
centre is a carnation, and round it are arranged
consecutively a bunch of grapes, a pansy, a honey-
suckle, and a double rose, green leaves occurring
at intervals. From the lower edge depend three
ornamental tassels of silver loops, with small
acorns in silver and coloured silks, one from the
centre and one from each corner.
The top edge has two draw-strings of gold
and red braid, each ending in an ornamental oval
acorn of silver thread and coloured silks, probably
worked on canvas over a wooden core, ending in
a tassel similar to those on the lower edge.
A long loop of gold and silver braid serves as
a handle, or means of attachment to a belt, and is
fixed at each side near a strong double loop of
silver thread, used when pulling the bag open.
The lining is of pink silk. This particular bag is
perfect in colour as well as condition, but usually
the silver has turned black, or nearly so. Besides
these very ornamental bags, others of quite simple
workmanship are occasionally found, worked in
outline with coloured silks. As well as the
embroidered bags, certain rectangular cloths
c
i8 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
variously ornamented, some richly, some plainly,
were made and used for the protection of em-
broidered books, when being read. These, like
the bags, only seem to have been used during the
seventeenth century. A particularly fine example
belongs to a New Testament bound in em-
broidered satin in 1640. It is of fine linen,
measuring 16-^ by 9^ inches, and is beautifully
embroidered in a floral design, with thick stalks
of gold braid arranged in curves and bearing
conventional flowers and leaves, all worked in
needle-point lace with coloured silks in a wonder-
fully skilful manner.
In the centre is a double red rose with separate
petals, and among the other flowers are corn-
flowers, honeysuckles, carnations, strawberries,
and several leaves, all worked in the same way,
and appliquds at their edges. Some, however, of
the larger leaves and petals are ornamentally
fastened down to the linen by small coloured
stitches arranged in lines or patterns over their
surfaces, as well as by the edge stitches. There
are several spangles scattered about in the spaces
on the linen, and the edge is bound with green
silk and gold. On the book itself to which this
cover belongs there is a good deal of the same
needle-point work, probably executed by the same
hand ; but the cover is a finer piece altogether
than the book, — in fact it is the finest example of
such work I have ever seen.
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FOREIGN SPECIMENS 19
Abroad there have been made at various
times embroidered bindings for books, but in no
country except England has there been any
regular production of them. I have come across
a few cases in England of foreign work, the
most important of which I will shortly describe.
In the British Museum is an interesting specimen
bound in red satin, and embroidered with the
arms of Felice Peretti, Cardinal de Montalt, who
was afterwards Pope Sixtus v.; the coat-of-arms
has a little coloured silk upon it, but the border
and the cardinal's hat with tassels are all outlined
in gold cord. The work is of an elementary
character. The book itself is a beautiful illumin-
ated vellum copy of Fichet's Rhetoric, printed
in Paris in 147 1, and presented to the then Pope,
Sixtus IV. In the same collection are a few more
instances of Italian embroidered bindings, always
heraldic in their main designs, the workmanship
not being of any particular excellence or character.
Perhaps altogether the most interesting Italian
work of this kind was done on books bound for
Cardinal York, several of which still remain,
embroidered with his coat-of-arms, one of them
being now in the Royal Library at Windsor.
Although the actual workmanship on these books
is foreign, we may perhaps claim them as having
been suggested or made by the order of the
English Prince himself, inheriting the liking for
embroidered books from his Stuart ancestors.
20 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
French embroidered books are very rare, and
I do not know of any examples in England.
Two interesting specimens, at least, are in the
Bibliotheque Nationale, and are described and
figured in Bouchot's work on the artistic bindings
in that library. The earlier is on a book of
prayers of the fifteenth century, bound in canvas,
and worked with ' tapisserie de sole au petit
point,' or as I should call it, tent-, or tapestry-,
stitch. It represents the Crucifixion and a saint,
but M. Bouchot remarks of it, ' La composition
est grossi^re et les figures des plus rudimentaires.'
The other instance occurs on a sixteenth-
century manuscript, ' Les Gestes de Blanche de
Castille.' It is bound in black velvet, much
worn, and ornamented with appliqud embroideries
in coloured silks, in shading stitch, probably done
on fine linen. The design on the upper cover
shows the author of the book, Etienne le Blanc,
in the left-hand corner, kneeling at the feet of
Louise de Savoie, Regent of France, to whom the
book is dedicated. Near her is a fountain into
which an antlered stag is jumping, pursued by
three hounds.
The Dutch, in the numerous excellent styles
of bindings they have so freely imitated from
other nations, have not failed to include the
English embroidered books. In the South
Kensington Museum is a charming specimen of
their work on satin, finely worked in coloured
HINTS FOR BROIDERERS 21
silks with small masses of pearls in a rather too
elaborate design of flowers and animals. In the
British Museum, besides other instances of Dutch
needlework, there is a very handsome volume
of the Acta Synodalis Nationalis Dordrechti
habit CB, printed at Leyden in 1620, and bound in
crimson velvet. It has the royal coat-of-arms of
England within the Garter, with crest, supporters,
and motto, all worked in various kinds of gold
thread ; in the corners are sprays of roses and
thistles alternately, and above and below the coat
are the crowned initials J. R., all worked in gold
thread.
Hints for Modern Broiderers.
Many book-covers have been embroidered
during the last few years in England by ladies
working on their own account, or by some of the
students at one or other of the many excellent
centres now existing for the study and practice of
the fascinating art of bookbinding.
Although a large proportion of modern work
of this kind has been only copied from older
work, I see no reason why original designs should
not be freely and successfully invented. But I
think that the ancient work may be advantage-
ously studied and carefully copied as far as choice
of threads and manner of working them goes.
The workers of our old embroidered books were
22 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
people of great skill and large experience, and from
a long and careful examination of much of their
work, I am impressed with the conviction that they
worked on definite principles. If I allude briefly
to some of these I may perhaps give intending
workwomen a hint or two as to some minor
points which may assist their work to show to
the best advantage when in situ, and also in-
sure, as far as possible, that it will not be unduly
damaged during the operation of fixing to the
back and boards of the book for which it is
intended.
(i) Before the operation of fixing on the book
is begun, it will always be found best to mount
the embroidered work on a backing of strong fine
linen. The stage at which it is best to add the
linen will vary according to the kind of work it
is to strengthen. In the case of canvas it will
only be necessary to tack it on quite at the last ;
with velvet a backing from the first may be used
with advantage, all the stitches being taken
through both materials. As to satin, it will
be best to do all the very fine work, if any,
in coloured silks first, and when the stronger
work in cord or braid comes on, the linen may
be then added. The value of the linen is twofold :
it strengthens the entire work and protects the
finer material from the paste with which it is
ultimately fastened on to the book.
(2) A book must be sewn, the edges cut, and
HINTS FOR BROIDERERS 22,
the boards fixed, before the sizes of the sides
and back can be accurately measured. These
sizes must be given to the designer most care-
fully, as a very small difference between the
real size and the embroidered size will entirely
spoil the finished effect, however fine the details
of the workmanship may be. When the exact
size is known the designer will fill the spaces at
his disposal according to his taste and skill,
making his sketches on paper, and, when these are
complete, transferring the outlines to the material
on which the work is to be done. If the designer
is also to be the worker it is artistically right,
and he, or she, will put in the proper stitches
as the work progresses ; but if another person is
to execute the needlework it will be best that
very detailed description of all the threads and
stitches that are to be used should be given, as
every designer of an embroidery design intends
it to be carried out in a particular way, and
unless this way is followed, the design does not
have full justice done to it.
(3) In the working itself the greatest care must
be taken, especially as to two points : the first and
perhaps the more important, because the more
difficult to remedy, is that the needlework on the
tmdey side of the material must be as small and
flat as possible, and all knots, lumps, or irregu-
larities here, if they cannot be avoided or safely
cut off, had best be brought to the upper side and
24 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
worked over. With satin, especially, attention
to this point is most necessary, as unless the plain
spaces lie quite flat, which they are very apt not
to do, the proper appearance of the finished work
is spoiled, and however good it may be in all
other points, can never be considered first-rate.
The second pitfall to avoid is any pulling or
straining of the material during the operation of
embroidering it. Success in avoiding this de-
pends primarily upon the various threads being
drawn at each stitch to the proper tension, so that
it may just have the proper pull to keep it in its
place and no more — and although a stitch too
loose is bad enough, one too tight is infinitely
worse.
(4) The preponderance of appliqud work, and
raised work in metal guimps on embroidered
books, especially on velvet, is easily accounted for
when the principles they illustrate are understood,
the truth being that in both these operations the
maximum of surface effect is produced with the
minimum of under work.
If the piece appliqud is not very large, a series
of small stitches along all the edges is generally
enough to keep it firm ; such edge stitches are in
most cases afterwards masked by a gold cord laid
over them. If, however, the applique piece is
large it will be necessary to fix it as well with
some supplementary stitches through the central
portions. These stitches will generally be so
THE BOOKS ILLUSTRATED 25
managed that they fit in with, or under, some
of the ornamental work ; at the same time, if
necessary, they may be symmetrically arranged
so as to become themselves of a decorative
character.
The Embroidered Books here illustrated.
For the purposes of illustration I have chosen
the most typical specimens possible from such
collections as I have had access to. The chief
collections in England are, undoubtedly, those at
the British Museum and at the Bodleian Library
at Oxford. The collection at the British Museum
is especially rich, the earlier and finer specimens
almost invariably having formed part of the old
Royal Library of England given by George 11. to
the Museum in 1757.
The more recent specimens have been acquired
either by purchase or donation, but as there has
been no special intention at any time to collect
these bindings, it is remarkable that such a number
of them exist in our National Library. The
Bodleian is rich in a few fine specimens only, and
most of these are exhibited. My illustrations are
made from photographs from the books themselves
in all instances ; to show them properly, however, all
should be in colour, and it should not be forgotten
that an embroidered book represented only by a
half-tint print, however good, inevitably loses its
26 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
greatest charm. However, if the hal'f-tint is un-
worthy, the colour prints are distinctly flattering.
I think that almost any old book well reproduced
in colour gains in appearance, and in two of my
colour plates I have actually restored some parts.
In the beautiful fourteenth century psalter, sup-
posed to have been worked by Anne de Felbrigge,
I have made the colours purposely much clearer
than they are at present. If it were possible to
clean this volume, the colours would show very
nearly as they do on my plate ; but, actually, they
are all much darker and more indistinct, being in
fact overlaid with the accumulated dirt of centuries.
The other instance where I have added more than
at present exists on the original is the green velvet
book which belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and
forms my frontispiece. Here I have put in the
missing pearls, each of which has left its little
impression on the velvet, so nothing is added for
which there is not the fullest authority. More-
over, some of the gold cord is gone on each of the
three volumes of this work, but I have put it in
its proper place for the purpose of illustration.
The other plates are not in any way materially
altered, but it may be allowed that the colour
plates show their originals at their best.
The books illustrated are selected out of a
large number, and I think it may fairly be con-
sidered that the most favourable typical specimens
now left in England are shown. It may well be
THE BOOKS ILLUSTRATED 27
that a few finer instances than I have been able
to find may still be discovered hidden away in
private collections, but it is now so rarely that a
really fine ancient embroidered book comes into
the sale-room, that we may safely conclude the
best of them are already safely housed in one or
other of our great national collections. Where
not otherwise stated, the specimens described are
in the British Museum.
In the following detailed descriptions I have
used the words ' sides ' and ' boards ' to mean the
same thing, and the measurements refer to the
size of the boards themselves, not including the
back. These measurements must be taken as ap-
proximate only, as from wear and other causes
the actual sizes would only be truly given by the
use of small fractions of inches.
CHAPTER II
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS
iNGLISH books bound in em-
broidered canvas range over a
period of about two hundred and
fifty years, the earliest known
specimen dating from the four-
teenth century, and instances of
the work occurring with some frequency from this
time until the middle of the seventeenth century.
The majority of these bindings are worked in
tapestry-stitch, or tent-stitch, in designs illustrat-
ing Scriptural subjects in differently coloured
threads.
Very often the outlines of these designs are
marked by gold threads and cords, of various
kinds, and parts of the work are also frequently
enriched with further work upon them in metal
threads. Spangles are very rarely found on
canvas-bound books. The backgrounds of several
of the later specimens are worked in silver threads,
sometimes in chain-stitch and sometimes in
tapestry-stitch ; others again have the ground-
3 — The Felbrigge Psalter. 13th-century MS.
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 29
work of silver threads laid along the surface of
the canvas and caught down at regular intervals
by small stitches — this kind of work is called 'laid'
or ' couched ' work. Books bound with this metal
ground have always strong work superimposed,
usually executed in metal strips, cords, and thread.
The silver is now generally oxidised and much
darkened, but when new these bindings must have
been very brilliant.
The Felbrigge Psalter. 13th-century ms.
Probably bound in the 14th century.
The earliest example of an embroidered
book in existence is, I believe, the manuscript
English Psalter written in the thirteenth century,
which afterwards belonged to Anne, daughter
of Sir Simon de Felbrigge, K.G., standard-
bearer to Richard 11. Anne de Felbrigge was
a nun in the convent of Minoresses at Bruis-
yard in Suffolk, during the latter half of the
fourteenth century, and it is quite likely that she
herself worked the cover — such work having
probably been largely done in monasteries and
convents during the middle ages.
On the upper side is a very charming design
of the Annunciation, and, on the und-er, another of
the Crucifixion, each measuring yf by 5f inches.
In both cases the ground is worked with fine gold
threads ' couched ' in a zigzag pattern, the rest of
30 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
the work being very finely executed in split-stitch
by the use of which apparently continuous lines
can be made, each successive stitch beginning a
little within that immediately preceding it — the
effect in some places being that of a very fine
chain-stitch. The lines of this work do not in
any way follow the meshes of the linen or canvas,
as is mostly the case with book-work upon such
material, but they curve freely according to the
lines and folds of the design. It will be re-
cognised I think by art workwomen skilled in
this kind of small embroidery, that the methods
used for ornamenting the canvas binding of this
book are the most artistic of any of the various
means employed for a similar purpose, and I
know of no other instance which for appropriate-
ness of workmanship, or charm of design, can
compare with this, the earliest of all.
The figure of the Virgin Mary, on the upper
side, is dressed in a pale red robe, with an upper
garment or cloak of blue with a gold border. On
her head is a white head-dress, and round it a
yellow halo ; just above is a white dove flying
downwards, its head having a small red nimbus
or cloud round it. The Virgin holds a red book
in her hand. The figure of the angel is winged,
and wears an under robe of blue with an upper
garment of yellow ; round his head he has a green
and yellow nimbus, his wings are crimson and
white.
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 31
Between these two figures is a large yellow
vase, banded with blue and red ; out of it grows a
tall lily, with a crown of three red blossoms.
The drawing of both of the figures is good,
the attitudes and the management of the folds of
the drapery being excellently rendered, and the
execution of the technical part is in no way
inferior to the design.
On the lower side, on a groundwork of gold
similar to that on the upper cover, is a design
of the Crucifixion. Our Saviour wears a red
garment round the loins, and round his head is
a red and yellow nimbus, his feet being crossed
in a manner often seen in illuminations in ancient
manuscripts.
The cross is yellow with a green edge, the
foot widening out into a triple arch, within which
is a small angel kneeling in the attitude of
prayer. On the right of the cross is a figure
of the Virgin Mary, in robes of pale blue and
yellow, with a white head-dress and green and
yellow nimbus. On the left is another figure,
probably representing St. John, dressed in robes
of red and blue, and having a nimbus round his
head of concentric rings of red and yellow. This
figure is unfortunately in very bad condition.
The edges of the leaves of the book are painted
with heraldic bearings in diamond-shaped spaces,
that of the Felbrigge family ' Gules, a lion
rampant, or' alternately with another 'azure, a
32 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
fleur-de-lys, or.' The embroidered sides have
been badly damaged by time and probably more
so by repair. The book has been rebound in
leather, the old embroidered back quite done
away with, and the worked sides pulled away
from their original boards and ruinously flattened
out on the new ones. After the Felbrigge Psalter
no other embroidered binding has been preserved
till we come to one dating about 1536, which is
in satin, and will be described under that head.
The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneftil Soul.
MS. by the Princess Elizabeth. 1544.
The Princess Elizabeth, afterwards Queen, in
her eleventh year, copied out in her own hand-
writing the Miroir or Glasse of the Synnefiil Soul.
She says it is translated ' out of frenche ryme into
english prose, joyning the sentences together as
well as the capacitie of my symple witte and
small lerning coulde extende themselves.' It is
also most prettily dedicated: 'From Assherige, the
last daye of the yeare of our Lord God 1544 . . .
To our most noble and vertuous Quene Katherin,
Elizabeth her humble daughter wisheth perpetuall
felicitie and everlasting joye.'
The book is now one of the great treasures
of the Bodleian Library ; it is bound in canvas,
measures about 7 by 5 inches, and was embroidered
in all probability by the hands of the Princess
1
4~The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul,
MS. by the Princess Elizabeth. 1544.
^—Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr.
MS. bv the Princess Elizabeth. 1545.
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 33
herself. The Countess of Wilton in her book on
the art of needlework says that 'Elizabeth was an
accomplished needlewoman,' and that 'in her time
embroidery was much thought of.' The Rev. W.
Dunn Macray in his Annals of the Bodleian
Library considers this binding to be one of
* Elizabeth's bibliopegic achievements.'
The design is the same upon both sides. The
ground is all worked over in a large kind of
tapestry-stitch in thick pale blue silk, very evenly
and well done, so well that it has been considered
more than once to be a piece of woven material.
On this is a cleverly designed interlacing scroll-
work of gold and silver braid, in the centre of
which are the joined initials K.P.
In each corner is a heartsease worked in thick
coloured silks, purple and yellow, interwoven
with fine gold threads, and a small green leaflet
between each of the petals. The back is very
much worn, but it probably had small flowers
embroidered upon it.
Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr. ms. by the
Princess Elizabeth. 1545.
Another manuscript beautifully written by the
Princess Elizabeth about a year later is now at
the British Museum. It is on vellum, and con-
tains prayers or meditations, composed originally
by Queen Katherine Parr in English, and trans-
E
34 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
lated by the Princess into Latin, French, and
Italian. The title as given in the book reads,
' Precationes ... ex piis scriptoribus per nobiliss.
et pientiss. D. Catharinam Anglie, Francie,
Hibernieq. reginam coUecte, et per D. Eliza-
betam ex anglico converse.' It is, moreover,
dedicated to Henry viii., the wording being,
' Iliustrissimo Henrico octavo, Anglie, Francie,
Hibernieq. regi,' etc., and dated Hertford, 20th
December 1545.
It is bound in canvas, and measures 5J by
4 inches, the groundwork being broadly worked
in tapestry-stitch, or some stitch analogous to it,
in red silk, resembling in method the work on the
ground of The Miroir of the Syniieful Soul
already described. On this, in the centre of each
side, is a large monogram worked in blue silk,
interwoven with silver thread, containing the
letters K, probably standing for Katherine, A,
F, H, and R, possibly meaning 'Anglie, Francie,
Hibernieque, Reginae,' but like most monograms
this one can doubtless be otherwise interpreted.
Above and below the monogram are smaller H's,
worked in red silk, interwoven with gold thread.
In each corner is a heartsease of yellow and purple
silk, interwoven with gold thread, and having
small green leaves between each of the petals.
The work which was once on the back is now so
worn that it cannot be traced sufficiently to tell
what it originally was. The designs of these
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 35
two volumes, credited to the Princess Elizabeth,
resemble each other to some extent; they both
have a monogram in the centre, they both have
heartsease in the corners and groundwork of a
like character. They are, as far as worknianship
goes, still more alike, similar thick silk is used
for the ground, and threads and braids of a
thick nature, with metal interwoven, are used
on both for the ornamental work. Speaking of
this British Museum book, the Countess of Wilton
says, * there is little doubt that Elizabeth's own
needle wrought the ornaments thereon.'
Books embroidered by the Princess Elizabeth.
It cannot be said that there is any actual
authority for saying that the two covers just
described are really the work of Elizabeth's own
hand, although she is known to have been fond
of embroidery, it being recorded that she made and
embroidered a shirt for her brother Edward when
she was six. There is little doubt, however, that the
same designer and the same workwoman worked
both these covers, and the technique, as well as the
design, are peculiar for the time in which they were
done. Canvas bindings were rare — most of the
embroidered work on books of that period were
splendid works on velvet — so that if these two
manuscripts had been 'given out' to be bound
in embroidered covers we should have expected
36 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
to find them in rich velvet, like Brion's Holy
Land, or Christopherson's Historia Ecclesiastica,
instead of a very elementary braid work. With-
out attaching too much importance to the various
statements concerning their royal origin, I am
inclined to think that there is no impossibility,
or even improbability, in the supposition that
the Princess designed and worked them herself,
thereby adding to her exquisite manuscript the
further charm of her clever needle. The idea of
both writing and embroidering such valued pre-
sents as these two books must have been is likely
to have strongly appealed to an affectionate and
humble daughter, and there is an artistic com-
pleteness in the idea which, I think, tells strongly
in its favour.
Probably enough no proof of their having been
worked by Elizabeth will now ever be forthcoming,
but it is equally unlikely that any positive dis-
proof will be found.
The two ' Elizabeth ' books stand alone — there
are no others resembling them ; but the next kind
of embroidered work I shall describe is one which
includes a large number of books, generally small
in size, and usually copies of the Bible or the
Psalms. The canvas in these cases is embroidered
all over in small tapestry-stitch, the design being
shown by means of the different colours of the
silks used. The work being all flat it is very
strong, and often books bound in this way are
6 — Christian Prayers. London, 1581.
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS z^
in a marvellous state of preservation. The most
interesting designs are those which represent
Scriptural scenes. Some of these are very curious
and almost grotesque, but there is much excuse
for this. To work a face any way in embroidery
is troublesome enough, but to work it on a small
scale in tent-stitch is especially dijfficult, the result
being somewhat similar in effect to that of a glass
or marble mosaic, each little stitch being nearly
square and of an uniform colour. The designers
of these embroideries do not appear to have had
a very fertile imagination, as again and again the
same subject is represented. Perhaps the most
favourite of all is Jacob wrestling with the angel ;
of figure subjects ' Faith and Hope ' are the
most frequently met with, but ' Peace and Plenty'
are also common enough.
Christian Prayers. London, 1581.
A Book of Christian Prayers with illustrated
borders, printed in London in 1 581, is bound in
coarse canvas worked in tapestry-stitch in colours,
and measures 7 by 5 inches. The same design is
on each side — a kind of flower-basket in two
stories, out of the lower part of which, rectangular
in shape, grow two branches, one with lilies and
another with white flowers, and out of the upper,
oval in shape, rise two sprays of roses, one white
the other red.
38 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
In the lower corners are a large lily, a blue
flower, and a large double-rose spray. All the
design is outlined with silver cord or thread, and
the veinings of the leaves are indicated in the
same way. There are remains of two green velvet
ties on the front edges of each of the boards.
The back is not divided into panels, but has a
design upon it of the letters E and S repeated
five times. The edges are gilt and gauffred.
Psalms and ConiDton Praier. London, 1606-'].
During the seventeenth century little 'double'
books were rather favourite forms for Common
Prayer and Psalms especially. These curious
bindings open opposite ways and have two backs,
two ornamental boards, and one unornamented
board enclosed between the two books, which are
always of the same size.
There are several instances whtre embroidered
books have been bound in this way, the earliest
I know being a copy of the Psalms and Common
Prayer, printed in 1606-7.
This is bound in canvas, and measures 3J
by 2 inches, each side having the same design
embroidered on each of the ornamented sides
and backs. The flowers and leaves are worked
in long straight stitches in coloured silks, out-
lined with silver twist. A large pansy plant
occupies the place of honour, growing out of a
7 — Psalms and Common Praier. London, 1606.
CI
O
C
O
u
CU
oJ
JO
1
CO
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 39
small green mound, from which also spring two
short plants with five-petalled yellow flowers.
The main stems and ribs of the leaves are made
with strong silver twist. Round about the central
spray are several coloured buds. On the backs
are four panels, each containing a small four-
petalled flower. The ground is worked all over
with silver thread irregularly stitched, and the
edges are bound with a broad silver thread.
There was originally one ribbon to twist round
both books and keep them together, but it is
now quite gone. The edges are gilt, gauffred,
and slightly coloured.
Bible, etc. London, 161 2.
A copy of the Bible, with the Psalms, printed
in London in 161 2, and measuring 6f by 4^
inches, is bound in fine canvas, and bears upon it
designs embroidered in coloured silks in tapestry-
stitch.
On the upper side is King Solomon seated in
an elaborate throne on a dais, all outlined with
gold cord. He wears a golden crown and a dress
which more nearly approaches the style worn at
the date of the production of the book than that
which was probably worn by Solomon himself.
Before the King kneels a figure, no doubt in-
tended for the Queen of Sheba, in a red and
orange robe of a curious fashion. She holds out
40 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
two white and red roses to the King, who bends
to take them. The ground is patterned in green
and blue diamonds. The distant landscape shows
a castle with turrets, trees, a tower, a house, and
a sun with rays. The groundwork on both sides
and the back is worked in silver thread.
The lower side has in the centre Jacob wrest-
ling with the angel. Jacob has a beard and a blue
cloak ; his staff lies on the ground. The angel
wears a red flowing robe, and his wings are many-
coloured, and enriched with various threads and
spirals of gold. The landscape is elaborate. In
the foreground is a river with a bridge of planks,
a gabled cottage, hospitably smoking from its
chimneys, a red lily, and a tree. In the middle
distance is a castle with tower and flag, and
on the horizon are a windmill, a castle with two
towers, and some trees, above all a red cloud.
The back is divided into six panels, on each of
which is a different design in coloured silks.
These designs are small, and although they are
in perfectly good condition, the subjects repre-
sented are doubtful. The upper and lower panels
seem to represent only castles with towers. Then
apparently come Jonah and the whale, the crea-
tion, the temple, and the deluge with the ark,
but it is quite possible that other interpretations
might be made. There are remains of two red
silk ties on the front edges of each board, and
the edges of the leaves are gilded simply.
c
o
5
p
>>
C/!
c
o
r-
CO
On
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 41
Sermons by Samttel IVard. London, 1626-7.
Mr. Yates Thompson has kindly allowed me
to describe and illustrate an embroidered book
belonging to him, bound in canvas, and measuring
5f by 4i inches. It is a collection of sermons
preached by 'Samuel Ward, Bachelour of Divinity,'
and printed in London, 1626-7, ^he binding being
probably of about the latter date. On the upper
cover is a lady in a blue dress, seated, and holding
a hawk on her left wrist, and a branch with apples
in her right. Round her are scattered flower
sprays, honeysuckle, foxglove, a stalk with two
large pears, a cluster of grapes, a twig with a
butterfly upon it, and a wild-rose spray. The
lady, the petals of the flowers, and the leaves are
all worked in tapestry-stitch ; the bird and the
lady's hair in long straight stitches ; the stalks,
fruits, and grasses are worked in variously
coloured silk threads, thickly and strongly bound
round with very fine silver wire. The lady has a
coif, cuff, and belt of short pieces of silver and
gold guimp arranged like a plait.
The under side shows a seated lady in a green
dress, playing a lute left-handed. This most un-
usual position is probably not really intentional,
but the drawing has accidentally been reversed.
She is surrounded, like her companion with the
hawk, by flower sprays, a thistle, cornflower,
strawberries, a rose, lily, bluebell, and small
42 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
bunch of grapes, making a kind of arbour, with
a wreath of red cloud at the top. The lady, the
petals of the flowers, and the leaves are worked
in fine tapestry-stitch ; the stalks and fruits in
coloured silks, mixed with silver wire. The lady
has a coif and a cuff of silver guimp arranged in
the same way as that on the other side.
The back is divided into four panels by silver
guimp, each containing a flower worked in tapestry-
stitch, a blue flower, a wild rose, a pansy, and a
thistle. The ground of the whole is loosely
overcast with silver thread, the constructive lines
of the book being marked by rows of silver guimp
arranged in small arches. The edges are bound
by a strong silver braid. The head and tail
bands are worked in silver thread — an unusual
method — and the edges are gilt and gauffred.
There are two ties on each board of striped silk,
much frayed and worn, but the embroidered work
itself is in excellent condition, and very strong.
New Testame?it, etc. London, 1625-35.
A small copy of the New Testament, printed
in London in 1625, bound together with the
Psalms, 1635, is covered with canvas, all worked
in tapestry-stitch, and measures 4^ by 3 inches.
On the upper cover is a full-length figure of
Hope, with dark hair, dressed in a red dress with
large falling collar, having a blue flower at the
CO
I
O
o
O
T.
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 43
point. In her left hand she holds an anchor. In
the distant background is a cottage and a gibbet
on a hill, the sun with rays just appearing under
a cloud. On the hilly foreground is a red lily,
and further afield a caterpillar and a strawberry
plant. On the lower cover is a full-length figure
of Faith, with fair hair, dressed in a blue dress
with large falling collar, having a red flower at
the point. In her left hand she holds an open
book with the word ' Faith ' written across it.
On the hilly foreground is a large red tulip and a
plant with red blooms, further afield are a pear-
tree and two caterpillars.
On the back are four panels, containing re-
spectively a bird, a blue flower, a squirrel, and a
red flower.
On the front edge of the upper cover can be
seen the remains of one tie of green silk, and the
edges are protected all round by a piece of green
silk braid. The edges of the leaves are plainly gilt.
This cover is one of the rare instances of a
book bound in embroidered work not made for it,
the embroidery being clearly made for a book of
about half the present thickness. It is possible
that it was intended for either the New Testament
or the Psalms separately, and, as an after-thought,
was made to do double duty. But as it now is,
the worked back is just a strip down the middle
of the back itself, the designs of the sides en-
croaching considerably inwards.
44 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
The Daily Exercise of a Christian.
London, 1623.
The Daily Exercise of a Christian, printed
in London in 1623, and measuring 4f by 2f
inches, is ornamented with a single flower spray,
with buds and leaves. The flower is a double
rose with curving stem, one large half-opened
bud and one smaller, and a few leaves, all worked
in tent-stitch. The spray rises from a small bed
of grass, out of which grows a small blue flower.
In the upper right-hand corner is a small blue
cloud. The same design is on both sides. The
back is divided into four panels, the divisions
being marked and bounded by a thick silver
braid, which is also used as an edging all round
the book ; the designs, beginning at the top,
are a fly and a flower alternately, differently
coloured.
The background is all worked in with silver
thread in chain-stitch. With this book is one of
the now rare ornamental markers, which, no doubt,
often went with embroidered books. It is fastened
to an ornamental oblong cushion, probably made
of light wood, and is worked in silver thread
and coloured silks in the same manner as the
rest of the embroidered work, and finished off at
the ends with small red tassels.
1 1 — The Daily Exercise of a Christian.
London, 1623.
12 — Bible. London, 1626.
• BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 45
Bible. London, 1626-28.
A copy of the Bible, printed in London in 1626,
is bound in canvas, and measures 6 by 3^ inches.
The embroidery is in coloured silks, silver
cords and threads, and silver guimp. On the
upper cover is a small full-length figure of St.
Peter, with short beard, holding a key in his left
hand. He is dressed in a blue under-garment,
with red and orange robe over it, all the edges
being marked by a silver twist, some of which
has come off. The ground is green and in
hillocks. All this work is done in coloured silks
and silver threads in shading stitch.
On the under side is a figure of St. Paul, with
long beard, holding a silver sword in his right
hand. He wears a blue under-garment, with red
and orange upper robe, all edged with silver
twist. The feet of both figures are bare. The
rest of the design is the same on both sides.
The skies are worked in large stitches of blue
and yellow silk and silver threads, graduating
from dark to light ; above these are canopies of
silver thread, couched, and vandyked at the edge.
Enclosing the figures are arches with columns, in
high relief in silver cords and threads. The inner
edge of the arch is curiously marked by a line of
brown silk worked over a strip of vellum in the
manner used for hand-worked head-bands, and
the outer edge has ' crockets ' of silver guimp.
46 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
The columns rest upon 'rams-horn' curves, heavily-
worked in relief with silver threads, the insides
of the curves worked in brown silk over vellum
like the inner edge of the arch.
Metal Threads used on Embroidered Books.
Guimp and gold threads are largely used, as
has already been noticed, in embroidered books
from early times, but on the next specimen of a
canvas-bound book I have chosen for description,
dated 1642, a kind of metal thread occurs which
is very curious. It is used at an earlier date on
satin books, and it is also found more commonly
upon them ; but as I have put the canvas books
first for the purpose of description, and the
* thread ' occurs in one of them, this is the best
place to put its description. This thread I call
' Purl,' and a thread with this name is mentioned
in several places as having been used in England
in the seventeenth century ; but there is no de-
scription of it, so that this thread may not be the
' purl ' mentioned by the seventeenth-century
writers, but if it is not, I do not know what purl
is, neither do I know any other special name for
the thread. In order that there may be no doubt
as to what I mean by purl, I will shortly describe
the thread as I know it.
First there is a very fine copper wire ; this is
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 47
closely bound round with coloured silk, also very
fine, and in this state it looks simply like a
coloured thread. Then this coloured thread is
itself closely coiled round something like a fine
knitting-needle — in fact I have made it on one —
and then pushed off in the form of a fine coiled
tube. The thread is always cut into short lengths
for use, and on books these short lengths are
generally threaded and drawn together at their
ends, making, so to speak, little arches — so that
although on the under side of the material there
is only a tiny thread, on the upper side there is a
strong arch, practically of copper. On boxes and
other ornamental productions of this same period,
pieces of purl are not infrequently found laid flat
like little bricks ; and houses, castles, etc., are
often represented by means of it ; but on books
the general use is either for flowers, grounds, or
(in very small pieces) to keep on spangles. Ob-
viously any coloured silk can be used in making
this thread, so that it may be said that for
coloured silk work, where strength is required,
flowers worked in purl are the best. The colours
used when roses are represented are usually
graduated, — yellow or white in the centre, then
gradually darkening outward, yellow, pale pink,
and red, or pale yellow, pale blue, and dark blue.
Purl flowers are usually accessories to some
regular design, but, in one instance at least, to
be described later on, it supplies the entire de-
coration of a small satin book.
48 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
Bible, etc. London, 1642.
The design on a Bible with Psalms, printed
in London in 1642, bound in fine canvas, and
measuring 6 by 3J inches, is the same on both
sides. The ground is all laid, or couched, with
silver threads, caught down at intervals by small
white stitches. In the centre is a circular silver
boss, and out of this grow four lilies worked
with silver thread in button-hole stitch ; each
of these lilies has a shape similar to its own
underneath it, outlined with fine gold cord, and
filled in with red silk ; representing altogether
white flowers with a red lining. These four red
and white lilies make together the form of a
Maltese cross, and between each of the arms is a
purl rose with yellow centre and graduated blue
petals. A double oval, with the upper and lower
curves larger than the side ones, marked with a
thick gold cord, encloses the central cross, and
the remaining spaces are filled with ovals and
lines of gold guimp, with here and there a little
patch of red or yellow purl, the extremities of the
upper and lower ovals being filled with threads
of green silk loosely bound with a silver spiral,
worked to represent a green plot.
The upper and lower curves o{ the oval are
thickened by an arch of gold thread laid length-
wise, and kept in place by little radiating lines of
red silk. In each corner is a purl rose, with
13 — Bible, etc. London, 1642.
CO
c
o
c
o
1
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 49
-blue centre, the petals graduating in colour from
pale yellow to dark red, with leaf forms and
stalks of gold cord and guimp. At the top and
bottom of the oval is a many-coloured purl
rose, and the spaces still left vacant are dotted
with little pieces of red, blue, and yellow purl
and spangles. On the front edges are the remains
of two red silk ties.
The back is divided into four panels by a
thick gold twist. The upper and lower panels
have each a blue purl rose worked in them, with
a white and red lily in the same silver thread as
those on the sides, with gold leaves and stalks ;
the two inner panels contain each three purl
roses, with gold leaves and stems. The upper
of these panels has a large rose of blue, yellow,
and red, and two smaller ones yellow with blue
centres ; the lower panel has a large rose of red,
pink, and yellow, and two smaller ones of red,
with yellow centres.
Dotted about the groundwork of the panels
are several spangles and short lengths of coloured
purl.
The edges of the leaves are plainly gilt.
Bible. London, 1648.
A Bible, printed in London in 1648, formerly
the property of George iii., is bound in canvas,
and has embroidered upon the boards emblematic
50 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
representations of Faith and Hope. It measures
6| by 4| inches.
On the upper side is a full-length figure of
Faith. She has fair hair, and is dressed in an
orange and red dress cut low, and showing in the
front a pale blue under garment. She has a large
white collar and cuffs, both in point-lace, and
bears in her right hand an open book with the
word 'Faith' written upon it, while her left hand
rests upon a pointed shield, pale purple with a
yellow centre. She is standing upon a rounded
hillock, on which are a strawberry plant with two
fruits, two caterpillars, a red tulip, and another
flower.
In the right-hand upper corner is a turreted
and gabled house, the windows of which are
marked with little glittering pieces of talc. Below
the house is a caterpillar and a large blue butter-
fly. In the left-hand upper corner is the sun, in
gold, just appearing under a blue cloud. Under-
neath this, in succession, come a tree with a
butterfly upon it, a bird, most likely meant for
a wren, and another caterpillar. The remains of
two red tie-ribbons are near the front edges. The
background is worked in silver thread, and the
edges of the boards are bound w^ith silver braid
having a thread or two of red silk on the inner-
most side.
On the under cover Hope appears in a curi-
ously worked upper garment of blue and white,
BOOKS BOUND IN CANVAS 51
short in the sleeves, in needlepoint, with a belt.
Under this is a dress of red and orange, showing
a blue under skirt in front. A scarf of the same
colour as the dress is gracefully folded over the
shoulders and hangs over the left arm ; a rather
deep collar and cuffs are both worked in needle-
point. The right hand rests upon an anchor
with a ' fouled ' rope.
Hope stands upon a rounded hillock, on which
are a snail and spray of possible foxglove, and
out of which grow a red carnation and another
flower. In the upper right-hand corner is a
gabled cottage with a tree, and under it a moth,
flower, and caterpillar. Towards the upper left-
hand corner is a bank of cloud with red and
yellow rays issuing therefrom, and under it a
pear-tree with flower and fruit, and a many-
coloured butterfly. All the background is worked
in silver thread.
The five panels of the back, indicated with
silver cord, are each filled with a diflerent design.
Beginning at the top, these are : a rose, a parrot
with a red fruit, a double rose, a lion, and a lily.
The edges are plainly gilt.
CHAPTER III
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET
^T seems probable that velvet was a
favourite covering for royal books
in England from an early period.
Such volumes as remain 'covered
in vellat' that belonged to Henry vii.
are, however, not embroidered, the
ornamentation upon them being worked metal, or
enamels upon metal. It is not until the time of
Henry viii. that we have any instances remaining
of books bound in embroidered velvet.
Velvet is very troublesome to work upon, the
pile preventing any delicate embroidery being
done directly upon it, hence the prevalence of
gold cords and appliqu^ work on canvas or
linen, on which of course the embroidery may
be executed as delicately as may be desired.
Tres ample description de toute la terre Saincte,
etc. [By Martin de Brion.] ms. of the six-
teenth century, probably bound about 1540.
The earliest extant English binding in em-
broidered velvet covers this manuscript, which
15 — Tres ample description de toute la terre Saincte, etc.
MS. 1540.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 53
belonged to Henry viii., and is dedicated to him.
The manuscript is on vellum, and is beautifully-
illuminated. It is bound in rich purple velvet, and
each side, measuring 9 by 6 inches, is ornamented
with the same design. In the centre is a large
royal coat-of-arms, surrounded by the garter, and
ensigned with a royal crown. The coat-of-arms
and the garter are first worked in thick silks of
the proper colours, red and blue, laid or couched,
with small stitches of silk of the same colour,
arranged so as to make a diamond pattern, on
fine linen or canvas. On the coat are the arms
of France and England quarterly; the bearings,
respectively three fleur-de-lys and three lions, are
solidly worked in gold cord, and the whole is
appliqud on to the velvet with strong stitches.
On the blue garter the legend ' Honi soit qui
mal y pense ' is outlined in gold cord, between
each word being a small red rose, the buckle,
end, and edge of the garter being marked also
in gold cord, and the whole appliqud like the
coat. The very decorative royal crown is solidly
worked in gold cords of varying thickness directly
on to the velvet. The rim or circlet has five
square jewels of red and blue silk along it,
between each of these being two seed pearls.
From the rim rise four crosses-patde and four
fleurs-de-lys, at the base of each of which is a
pearl, and also one in each inner corner of the
crosses-patde. Four arches also rise from the
54 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
rim, the two outer ones each having three small
scrolls with a pearl in the middle ; at the top is
a mound and cross-patde, with a pearl in each
of its inner corners. There is a letter H on each
side of the coat-of-arms, and these letters were
originally doubtless worked with seed pearls, but
the outlines of them alone are now left. In each
corner is a red Lancastrian rose worked on a piece
of satin, appliqud, the centres and petals marked
in gold cord, and the whole enclosed in an outer
double border of gold cord. On the front edges
of each side are the remains of two red silk ties.
This is certainly a very handsome piece of
work, and is wonderfully preserved. It is the
earliest example of a really fine embroidered book
on velvet in existence, and it has perhaps been
more noticed and illustrated than any other book
of its kind. The crown has an interesting
peculiarity about it, which does not appear, as
far as I have observed, on any other representation
of it, namely, that the four arciies take their
rise directly from the rim. They generally rise
from the summits of the crosses-pat^e, but I
should fancy that the rise from the circlet itself
is more correct.
Biblia. Tiguri, 1543.
This Bible also belonged to Henry viii. It is
bound in velvet, originally some shade of red or
crimson, but now much faded. It measures 15
1 6 — Biblia. Tiguri, 1543.
17—11 Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 55
by 9j inches. It is ornamented with arabesques
and initials all outlined with fine gold cord. In
the centre are the initials H. R., bound together
by an interlacing knot, within a circle. Arab-
esques above and below the circle make up an
inner panel, itself enclosed by a broad border of
arabesques, with a double, or Tudor, rose in each
corner. The edges of the leaves of the book are
elaborately painted with heraldic designs.
It has been re-backed with leather, but still
retains the original boards.
II Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544.
Another fine example of the decorative use of
Heraldry occurs on a copy of Petrarch printed at
Venice in 1544, and probably bound about 1548,
after the death of Henry viii. It belonged to
Queen Katherine Parr, and bears her arms with
several quarterings — worked appliqud on rich
blue purple velvet, and measures 7 by 6 inches.
The first coat is the ' coat of augmentation '
granted to the Queen by Henry viii. — ' Argent,
on a pile gules, between six roses of the same,
three others of the field ' — and the next coat is
that of ' Parr.'
The various quarterings on this coat are
worked differently from those on the last book de-
scribed. Here the red and blue are well shown
by pieces of coloured satin — except in the first,
56 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
fifth, and seventh coats, where there is some
couched work in diamond pattern, just like that
on Martin Brion's book. The entire coat, which
is of an ornamental shape, is appliqud in one
large piece, and edged by a gold cord. The
crown surmounting it is heavily worked in gold
guimp — the cap being represented in crimson silk
thread and all appliqu^. There are two sup-
porters — that on the right, an animal breathing
flame, and gorged with a coronet from which
hangs a long chain, all worked in coloured silks
on linen and appliqud, belongs to the Fitzhugh
family, the coat of which is shown on the third
quarter ; that on the left, a wyvern argent, also
gorged with a coronet, from which depends a long
gold chain, is that of the Parr family. The
wyvern is a piece of blue silk, finished in gold and
silver cords, in appliqu^. The gold cord enclosing
the armorial design is amplified at each corner
into an arabesque scroll. The book has been
most unfortunately rebound, and the work is
badly strained in consequence — the back being
entirely new ; nevertheless it is in a wonder-
ful state of preservation. It is said to have been
worked by Queen Katherine Parr herself. The
design is too^large for the book, and the crown is
too large for the coat-of-arms. It is probable that
the binding of the book was done after the death
of Henry viii., otherwise the supporters would
have been the lion and the greyhound ; also the
1 8 — Queen Mary's Psalter. 14th-century MS.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 57
coat-of-arms would have been different ; also, as
the Seymour coat does not appear, it is likely
that the binding was done before Queen Katherine
Parr's marriage with Lord Seymour of Sudley,
in 1547. The design is the same on both sides.
Queot Marys Psalter. 14th-century Ms,
Bound about 1553.
The beautiful English manuscript of the
fourteenth century known as ' Queen Mary's
Psalter' was presented to her in 1553. It is
bound in crimson velvet, measuring 11 by 6f
inches, and appliqud on each side is a large con-
ventional pomegranate-flower worked on fine
linen in coloured silks and gold thread. This
flower is much worn, but enough is left to show
that it was originally finely worked. Queen
Mary used the pomegranate as a badge in
memory of her mother, Katharine of Aragon.
The volume has been re-backed in plain crimson
velvet, and still retains the original gilt corners
with bosses, and two clasps, on the plates of which
are engraved the Tudor emblems, — portcullis,
dragon, lion, and fleur-de-lys.
Christopherson, Historia Ecclesiastica.
Lovanii, 1569.
Many fine bindings in embroidered velvet of
the time of Queen Elizabeth still remain, several
of them having been her own property.
H
58 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
One of the most decorative of these last is
unfortunately in a very bad state, owing possibly
to the fact that there were originally very many
separate pearls upon it, and that these have from
time to time been wilfully picked off. The book
is in three volumes, and is a copy of the Historia
Ecclesiastica, written by Christopherson, Bishop
of Chichester, and printed at Louvain in 1569.
Each of these volumes is bound in the same
way, so the description of one of them will serve
for all, except that no one volume is perfect, so
the description must be taken as representing
only what each originally was.
It is covered in deep green velvet, and
measures 6 by 3^ inches, the design being the
same on each side. In the centre the royal coat-
of-arms is appliqu^ in blue and red satin, on
an ornamental cartouche of pink satin, with
scrolls of gold threads and coloured silks, richly
dotted with small pearls. The bearings on the
coats-of-arms are solidly worked in fine gold
threads.
From each corner of the sides springs a rose
spray, with Tudor roses of red silk mixed with
pearls, and Yorkist roses all worked in pearls
clustering tight together, the leaves and stems
being made in gold cord and guimp. A decora-
tively arranged ribbon outlined with gold cord
and filled in with a line of small pearls set near
each other, encloses the design, and numerous
20 — Christian Prayers. London, 1570.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 59
single pearls are set in the spaces between the
roses and their leaves and stems.
The back is divided into five panels bearing
alternately Yorkist roses of pearls and Tudor
roses of red silk and pearls, all worked in the
same way as the roses on the sides.
The illustration I give of this binding (Frontis-
piece) is necessarily a restoration. But there is
nothing added which was not originally on the
book. Each pearl that has disappeared has left
a little impress on the velvet, and so has each
piece of gold cord which has been pulled off.
The back is still existing ; but bad though both
sides and back now are, it is much better they
should be in their present condition than that
they should have been mended or replaced in
parts by newer material.
Christian Prayers. London, 1570.
A simpler binding, but still one of great rich-
ness, covers a copy of Christian Prayers, printed
in London in 1570.
This is covered in crimson velvet, measuring
6 by 3^ inches, and is worked largely with metal
threads, mixed with coloured silks. In the centre
is the crest of the family of Vaughan — a man's
head with a snake round the neck. The crest
rests on a fillet, and is enclosed in a twisted circle
of gold with four coloured bosses. From the upper
6o ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
and lower extremities of this circle spring two
flower forms in gold and silver guimp, with
sprays issuing from them bearing strawberries,
grape bunches, and leaves, in the upper half, and
roses and leaves in the lower. The grapes are
represented by rather large spangles, and the
leaves, worked in gold, have a few strands of
green silk in them ; large spangles, kept down by
a short piece of guimp, are used to fill in spaces
here and there. This is the first instance of the
use of spangles on a velvet book. The back is
tastefully ornamented with gold cord arranged
diamond-wise, and having in each diamond a
flower worked in gold.
Parker, De antiqtiitate Ecclesice Britannicce.
London, 1572.
This is one of the embroidered books that
belonged to Queen Elizabeth, and has been
frequently illustrated and described. It is re-
markable in other respects than for its binding,
as it is one of a number of probably not more
than twenty copies of a work by Matthew
Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, De antiquitate
EcclesicB Britannicce, printed for him by John
Day in London, 1572. It was the first instance
of a privately printed book being issued in
England.
Archbishop Parker had a private press, and
2 1 — ^Parker, De antiquitate Ecclesiie Britannica;.
London, 1572.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 6i
his books were printed with types cast at his own
cost, John Day being sometimes employed as his
workman. No two copies of this particular work
are alike, and it is supposed that the Archbishop
continually altered the sheets as they came from
the press and had the changes effected at once.
The book has two title-pages, each of which, as
well as a leaf containing the arms of the Bishops
in vellum, the ornamental borders, and coats-of-
arms throughout the book, are emblazoned in gold
and colours.
The biographies of sixty-nine Archbishops
are contained in the book, but not Parker's
own. This omission was supplied afterwards
by a little satirical tract published in 1574,
entitled ' Histriola, a little storye of the actes
and life of Matthew, now archbishop of Canter-
bury.'
But the Archbishop not only had his printing
done under his own roof, but also had in his
house ' Paynters . . . wryters, and Boke-binders,'
so that it may fairly enough be considered that he
bound the splendid copy of his great work which
was intended for the Queen's acceptance, in a
specially handsome manner, under his own
direct supervision, and in accordance not only
with his own taste but also with that of his
royal mistress. The volume is a large one,
measuring 10 by 7 inches, and is covered in dark
green velvet. On both sides the design is a rebus
62 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
on the name of Parker, representing in fact a
Park within a high paling. The palings are
represented as if lying flat, and are worked in gold
cord with flat strips of silver, on yellow satin
appliqud. There are gates and other small open-
ings in the continuity of the line of palings. On
the upper cover within the paling is a large rose-
bush, bearing a large Tudor rose and two white
roses in full bloom, with buds and leaves, some
tendrils extending over the palings. The stalks
are of silver twist edged with gold cord, the red
flowers are worked with red silk and gold cord,
the white ones made up with small strips of flat
silver and gold cord. Detached flowers and tufts
of grass grow about the rose-tree ; among these
are two purple and yellow pansies, Elizabeth's
favourite flowers, and in each corner is a deer,
one ' courant,' one ' passant,' one feeding, and one
'lodged.'
The design fills the side of the book very fully,
and the workmanship is everywhere excellent.
This upper cover is much faded, as it has been
for many years exposed to the light in one of the
Binding show-cases in the King's Library at the
British Museum.
The under side is much fresher, but the design
not so elaborate. There is a similar paling to
that on the other side, the ' Park ' being dotted
about with several plants, ferns, and tufts of
grass. Near each corner is a deer, one feeding.
22 — The Epistles of St. Paul. London, 1578.
(Frnm a drawing).
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 63
one ' couchant,' one * tripping,' and one ' courant,'
and one 'lodged' in the centre. There are also
two snakes worked in silver thread with small
colour patches in silk.
The back is badly worn, but the original
design can be easily traced upon it. There were
five panels, in each of which is a small rose-tree,
bearing one large flower, with leaves and buds,
and tufts of grass. The first, third, and fifth of
these are white Yorkist roses ; the second and
third are Tudor roses of white and red.
The Epistles of St. Paul. London, 1578.
If this book of Archbishop Parker's is one
of the most elaborately ornamented embroidered
books existing, and perhaps one of the greatest
treasures of its kind in the British Museum, the
next velvet book to describe is one of the simplest,
yet it also is one of the greatest treasures of its
kind at the Bodleian Library.
It is a small copy of the Epistles of St. Paul,
printed by Barker in London, 1578, and measuring
4i by 3^ inches, and it belonged to Queen Eliza-
beth. Inside she has written a note in which she
says : ' I walke manie times into the pleasant
fieldes of the Holy Scriptures, where I plucke up
the goodlie greene herbes of sentences by pruning,
eate them by reading, chawe them by musing,
and laie them, up at length in the hie seat of
64 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
memorie by gathering them together, so that
having tasted thy swetenes I may the less perceive
the bitterness of this miserable life.'
The Rev. W. D. Macray, in the Annals of the
Bodleian Library, says, ' This belonged to Queen
Elizabeth, and is bound in a covering worked by
herself ; and the Countess of Wilton, in the Art
of Embroidery, says, ' The covering is done in
needlework by the Queen herself.'
It is also described by Dibdin in Bibliomania.
He says, ' The covering is done in needlework by
the Queen herself.'
The black velvet binding is much worn, and
has been badly repaired. The work upon it is all
done in silver cord or guimp, and the designing,
as well as the work, is such as may well have
been done by the Queen.
On both covers borders with legends in Latin,
enclosed in lines of gold cord, run parallel to the
edges. Beginning at the right-hand corners of
each side, these legends read, ' Beatus qui divitias
scripturae legens verba vertit in opera — Celum
Patria Scopus vitae xpus — Christus via — Christo
vive.' In the centre oi the upper side is a ribbon
outlined in gold cord, with the words, ' Eleva
sursum ibi ubi,' a heart being enclosed within the
ribbon, and a long stem with a flower at the top
passing through it. In the centre of the lower
side a similar ribbon with the motto, ^ Vicit omnia
pertinax virtus,' encloses a daisy, a badge pre-
2 ^.—Christian Prayers, etc. London, i 584.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 65
viously used by Henry viii. and Edward vi.,
probably in memory of their ancestress, Margaret
Beaufort. Both these inner scrolls have the
initial letter E interwoven with them.
There is no doubt that the usual royal em-
broidered bindings of the time of Elizabeth were
elaborately designed and richly worked, in decided
contrast to this small book ; and this difference of
style makes it more probable that the Queen
worked it herself.
There is no resemblance between this book
and the two canvas-bound books already described
which are attributed to her, except the use of cord
alone in the embroidery ; but the difference of
material might perhaps he considered sufficient
to account for this. No real evidence seems
to be forthcoming as to the authorship of the
embroidered work, but there is no doubt that the
book was a favourite one of Queen Elizabeth's,
and if the needlework had been done for her by
any of the ladies of her Court, it would be likely
that she would have added a note to that effect to
the words she has written inside.
Christian Prayers, etc. London, 1584.
A copy of Christian Prayers, with the Psalms,
printed in London in 1581 and 1584, is curiously
bound in soft paper boards strengthened on the
inner side with pieces of morocco and covered
66 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
with pale tawny velvet. It measures 7^ by 5^
inches. The edges of the leaves are gilt and
gauffred.
The arrangement of the design is unusual. It
starts from the centre of the back in the form of a
broad ornamental border, extending towards the
front edges along the lines of the boards. This
border is handsomely ornamented by a wavy line
of silver cords, filled out with conventional flowers
and arabesques worked in gold and silver cords and
threads, with a little bit of coloured silk here and
there. A symmetrical design of flower forms
and arabesques starts, on each board, from the
centre of the inner edge of the border, and is
worked in a similar way. Some of the leaves,
however, have veinings marked by strips of flat
silver, and others made by a flattened silver
spiral, having the appearance of a succession of
small rings. There are the remains of two pale
orange silk ties on the front edges of each board,
and the edges are gilt and gaufl'red with a little
colour.
The petals of the flowers are worked in guimp,
whether gold or silver is difficult to say. Indeed
in many instances of the older books it is difficult
to be sure whether a metal cord or thread was
originally gilded or not, as all these ' gold ' threads
are, or were, silver gilt, so that when worn the
silver only remains. If the cord or thread has
been protected in any corners, however, or if it
2^ — Orationis Doniiniccc Explicatio, etc.
Genevae, 1583.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 67
can be lifted a little, the faint ^trace of gold can
often be seen on what would otherwise have been
surely put down as originally silver.
Oratioitis Dominican Explicatio, etc.
Genevse, 1583.
There is in the British Museum a copy of
Orationis DomiiiiccB Explicatio, per Lamberttim
Dancemn, printed at Geneva in 1583, which be-
longed to Queen Elizabeth. It is bound in black
velvet, measures 6f by \\ inches, and is orna-
mented most tastefully, each side having an
arabesque border in gold cord and silver guimp,
enclosing a panel with a design of white and red
roses, with stems and leaves worked in gold cord
and silver guimp with a trifle of coloured silk on
the red roses and on the small leaves showing
between the petals. On the front edge are the
remains of red and gold ties. The design of this
charming little book is excellent, and the colour
of it when new must have been very effective.
The design is the same on both sides. The back
is in bad condition, and is panelled with arab-
esques in gold and silver cord.
Bible. London, 1583.
The most decorative, and in many ways the
finest, of all the remaining embroidered books of
68 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
the time of Elizabeth is now at the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. It is one of the 'Douce'
Bibles, printed in London in 1583, and probably
bound about the same time. It was the property
of the Queen herself, and is bound in crimson
velvet, measuring 17 by 12 inches. The design
is the same on both sides, and consists of a very
cleverly arranged scroll of six rose stems, bearing
flowers, buds, and leaves springing from a large
central rose, with four auxiliary scrolls crossing
the corners and intertwining at their ends. The
large rose in the centre as well as those near the
corners are Tudor roses, the red shown in red
silk and the white in silver guimp, both outlined
with gold cord. Small green leaves are shown
between each of the outer petals. These flowers
are heavily and solidly worked in high relief.
The smaller flowers are all of silver, the buds,
some red, some white. The stems are of thick
silver twist enclosed between finer gold cords, and
the leaves show a little green silk among the
gold cord with which they are outlined and veined.
Immediately above and below the centre rose are
two little T's worked in small pearls.
The narrow border round the edges is very
pretty ; it is a wavy line of gold cord and green
silk, the hollows within the curves being filled
with alternate ' Pods ' with pearls, and green
leaves. The back is divided into four panels by
wavy lines of gold cord and pearls, and the upper
25 Bible. London, 1583.
26 — The Commonplaces of Peter Martyr.
London, 1583.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 69
and lower panels have small rose-plants with
white roses, buds, and leaves; the inner panels have
each a large Tudor rose of red and white, with
leaves and buds. The drawing and designing
of this splendid book are admirable, and the
workmanship is in every way excellent. Many of
the pearls are gone, and some of the higher por-
tions of the large roses are abraded, the back, as
usual, being in a rather bad state ; but in spite
of all this, and the inevitable fading, the work
remains in a sufficiently preserved condition to
show that at this period the art of book-
embroidery reached its highest decorative point.
It is rather curious to note that Henry viii. used
the red Lancastrian rose by preference, but that
on Elizabeth's books the white rose always ap-
pears, and I know of very few instances where
the red rose appears on her books. Of course
both sovereigns used the combined, double, or
Tudor rose as well.
The Commonplaces of Peter Martyr.
London, 1583.
An embroidered book designed in a manner
which is characteristic of a gold tooled book is
found but rarely. An instance of this however is
found on a copy of The Commonplaces of Peter
Martyr, translated by Anthonie Marten, and
printed in London in 1583. It is covered in
70 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
blue purple velvet measuring 13^ by 9 inches,
and the design upon it is a broad outer border
doubly outlined with a curious and effective braid,
apparently consisting of a close series of small
silver rings, but really being only a silver spiral
flattened out. This border is dotted at regular
intervals with star-shaped clusters of small pieces
of silver guimp symmetrically arranged. The
centre of the inner panel is a diamond-shaped
ornament made with similar ' ring-' braid and
small pieces of silver guimp, and the corner-pieces
are quarter circles worked in the same way. This
design of centre-piece and corner-pieces is dis-
tinctly borrowed from leather work, and I have
never seen another example of the kind executed
in needlework. The colouring of this book is
very good, the purple and silver harmonising in a
very pleasing manner.
Biblia. Antverpiae, 1590.
A beautiful binding of green velvet covers a
Bible printed at Antwerp in 1590, measuring
7 by 4 inches. The design is the same on both
sides, and the book was apparently bound for
' T. G.,' whose initials are worked into the design ;
a conventional arrangement of curving stems and
flower forms worked in gold cord, guimp, and
small pearls thickly encrusted ; the same on both
boards. The centre is a large conventional
'*»-' >.rf#<'
vrtsi-amv
#'^
1 • ^ ■ ••
;V>/ -"^^z
iti;
V V ... ». ... v ^. ... '■,,„,. V.
••'.'^ -
^1^.
27 — Biblia. Antverpia^, 1590.
28 — Udall, Sermons. London, 1596.
{From a drawing).
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 71
flower, in form resembling a carnation, with
serrated petals, having a garnet below it, and
flanked by the letters T. G., all thickly worked
with reed pearls. In each corner is a smaller
flower — conventionalised forms probably of honey-
suckle and rose — ^joined together by curving stems
of gold cord, filled out with leaves and arabesques,
all together forming a very decorative panel.
The outer border is richly worked with leaves and
arabesques in guimp and pearls, the outer line
of gold cord being ornamented with small triple
points marked with pearls. The back is divided
into three spaces by curving lines of gold cord,
and in each of these spaces is worked one of the
same conventionalised flower forms as occur on
the boards, i.e. a honeysuckle, cornflower, and
rose, with leaves and smaller curves of gold cord.
The ground of the entire work is freely orna-
mented with gilt spangles held down by small
pieces of guimp, and with single pearls ; the larger
of these are enclosed within circles of guimp, the
smaller are simply sewn on one by one.
There are remains of gilt clasps on the front
edges of each of the boards, and the edges of the
leaves are gilt and gauffred, with a little pale
colour.
Udall, Sermons. London, 1596.
A few specimens of embroidered books were
exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in
72 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
1 89 1. Among them was a charming velvet bind-
ing that belonged to Queen Elizabeth, lent by
S. Sandars, Esq., and now in the University
Library, Cambridge. It is a copy of Udall's
Sermons, printed in London in 1596, and is
covered in crimson velvet, measuring about 6 by
4 inches. The design is the same on each side, the
royal coat-of-arms appliqu^, with the initials E. R.,
and a double rose in each corner with stalks and
leaves. The coat-of-arms is made up with pieces
of blue and red satin, the bearings heavily worked
with gold thread, and the ground also thickly
studded with small straight pieces of guimp, doubt-
less put there to insure the greater flatness of the
satin. The crown with which the coat-of-arms is
ensigned is all worked in guimp, and is without
the usual cap. The ornaments on the rim are
only trefoils, and there are five arches.
The initials flanking the coat are worked in
guimp, as are the corner roses and leaves. The
guimp used is apparently silver, and the cord used
for the outlines and stems is gold. The back has
a gold line down the middle and along the joints,
with a wavy line of gold cord each side of it.
Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts.
Bound about 1610.
To Henry, Prince of Wales, we owe a great
debt of gratitude, as he was the first person of
29 — Collection of Sixieenth-Century Tracts.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 73
much consequence in our royal family to take
any real interest in the Old Royal Library.
Indeed it may be considered that the existence
to-day of the splendid 'Old Royal' Library of
the kings of England, which was presented to
the nation in 1759 by George 11., is largely due
to the attention drawn to its interest and value by
Prince Henry, who moreover added considerably
to it himself.
This Prince used as his favourite and personal
badge the beautiful design of three white ostrich
feathers within a golden coronet, and with the
motto ' ICH DiEN ' on a blue ribbon. With regard
to the origin of this badge there is unfortunately
a good deal of obscurity. The usual explanation
is that it was the helmet-crest of the blind king
of Bohemia, who was killed at Crdcy in 1346,
and that in remembrance of this it was adopted
by the Black Prince as his badge. But, as a
matter of fact, the ostrich feather was used as a
family badge by all the sons of Edward iii. and
their descendants. It appears to have been the
cognisance of the province of Ostrevant, a dis-
trict lying between Artois and Hainault, and the
appanage of the eldest sons of the house of Hain-
ault. In this way it may have been adopted by
the family of Edward iii. by right of his wife,
Philippa of Hainault.
An early notice of the ostrich feather as a
royal badge occurs in a note in one of the Har-
K
74 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
leian mss. to the effect that ' Henrye, son to the
erle of Derby, fyrst duke of Lancaster, gave the
red rose crowned, whose ancestors gave the fox
tayle in his proper cooler, and the ostrych fether,
the pen ermine,' the Henry here mentioned being
the father of Blanche, wife of John of Gaunt.
On the tomb of Prince Arthur, son of Henry
VII., at Worcester, the feather is shown both
singly and in plume, and it occurs in the triple
plume form within a coronet and a scroll with
the words ' ich dien ' upon it, on bindings made
by Thomas Berthelet for Prince Edward, son of
Henry viii., who never was Prince of Wales.
It really seems as if the first ' Prince of Wales '
actually to use the ostrich feather plumes as a
personal badge of that dignity was Prince Henry,
and it occurs largely on such books belonging
to his library as he had rebound, and also on
books that were specially bound for presentation
to him.
This is the case in one of the most decorative
bindings he possessed, enclosing a collection of
tracts originally the property of Henry viii., but
which somehow or other became the property of
Magdalen College, Cambridge, the governing
body of which had it bound in embroidered
velvet and presented to Prince Henry.
The cover is of crimson velvet, the edges of
which extend freely beyond the edges of the book,
bound all round with a fringe of gold cord. It
JO — Bacon, Opera. Londini, 1623.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 75
measures about 8 by 6 inches. The design is the
same on each side. In the centre is a large triple
plume of ostrich feathers, thickly and beautifully
worked in small pearls, within a golden coronet,
and having below them the motto ' ich dien ' in
gold upon a blue silk ribbon.
The badge is enclosed in a rectangular panel
of gold cords, in each corner of which is an
ornamental spray of gold cords, guimp, and a
flower in pearls. A broad border with a richly
designed arabesque of gold guimp or cord, with
pearl flowers, encloses the central panel. The
design is filled in freely with small pearls enclosed
in guimp circles and small pearls alone.
The back has an ornamental design in gold
cord and guimp. This cover is a beautiful
specimen of later decorative work on velvet, and
the general effect is extremely rich, the design
and workmanship being equally well chosen as
regards the materials to which they are applied,
and with which they are worked.
Bacon, Opera. Londini, 1623.
A copy of the works of Francis Bacon, Viscount
St. Albans, printed in London in 1623, is bound
in rich purple velvet, and measures 13^ by 8f
inches. The design is a central panel with
arabesque centre and corners, surrounded by a
deep border of close curves and arabesques, all
76 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
worked in gold cord and guimp. There are
several gold spangles used, kept down by a small
piece of gold guimp. The front edges of each
board have only the marks left where two ties
originally were, and the edges of the book are
simply gilt.
Bacon, Essays. 1625.
A copy of another work by the same author,
the Essays printed in 1625, was given by him to
the Duke of Buckingham, and is now at the
Bodleian Library at Oxford. It is bound in dark
green velvet, measuring about 7 by 5 inches, the
same design being embroidered on each side. In
the centre is a small panel portrait of the Duke
of Buckingham, with short beard, and wearing
the ribbon of the Garter. The portrait is mostly
worked with straight perpendicular stitches, except
the hair and collar, in which the stitches are
differently arranged. The background merges
from nearly white just round the head to pink at
the outer edge ; the coat is brownish. The frame-
work of the portrait is solidly worked in gold
braids and silver guimp in relief, the design
being of an architectural character. Two columns,
with floral capitals and pediments, spring from a
scroll-work base and support what may perhaps
be intended for a gothic arch with crockets. Im-
mediately above the crown of the arch is a ducal
coronet, and a handsome border of elaborate
,1 — -Bacon, Essays. 1625.
;2 — Common Praver. London, 1638.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET Tj
arabesques reaching far inwards is worked all
round the edges. The outlines of these arabesques,
the stalks and curves, are all worked in gold
cords, the petals and leaves in silver guimp in
relief. The back is divided into eight panels by
gold and silver cords, and in each of these panels
is a four-petalled flower with small circles. There
are several gilt spangles kept down by a small
piece of guimp.
Common Prayer. London, 1638.
Among the few older royal books in the
library at Windsor Castle is an embroidered one
that belonged to Prince Charles, afterwards
Charles 11. It is a copy of the Book of Coimfion
Prayer, printed in London in 1638, and is bound
in blue velvet with embroidered work in gold
cord and silver guimp, similar in character to
that on the copy of Bacon's Essays just described.
It measures 8 by 6 inches. The design is heraldic.
In the centre is the triple plume of the Prince of
Wales, with coronet and label, no motto being
apparent on the latter. The plume is encircled
by the Garter appliqud, on pale blue silk, the
motto, worked in silver cord, being nearly worn
off. Resting on the top of the Garter is a large
princely coronet, flanking which are the letters
' C. P.' In the lower corners are a thistle and a
rose. A broad border with arabesques encloses
78 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
the central panel. This book was exhibited by
Her Majesty at the Burlington Fine Arts Club
in 1891. It is in very bad condition, which is
curious, as it is not so very old, and as it is still
among the royal possessions it might well have
been imagined that it would have been better
preserved than other and older books of a like
kind which we know have been considerably
moved about. The colour is however very
charming still, and books have rarely been bound
in blue velvet, black, green, or crimson being
most usual.
After 1649, or thereabouts, there was a full
stop for a time to any art production in the
matter of bookbinding. Indeed, for the em-
broidered books as a class that is the end, but
nevertheless a few examples are found at a later
date, but no regular production and no original
designs.
Bible. Cambridge, 1674.
A large Bible printed at Cambridge in 1674,
in two volumes, was bound in crimson velvet for
James 11., presumably about 1685. The work
upon it, each volume being the same, is of a
showy character, good and strong, but utterly
wanting in any of the artistic qualities either of
design or execution which characterised so many
of the earlier examples. In the centre are the
initials 'J. R,' surmounted by a royal crown, heavily
JO"
Bible. Cambridge, 1674.
BOOKS BOUND IN VELVET 79
worked in gold braid, guimp, and some coloured
silks. Enclosing the initials and crown are scrolls
in thick gold twist ; these again are surrounded
by a curving ribbon of gold, intertwined with
roses and leafy sprays. In each corner is a silver-
faced cherub with beads for eyes and gold wings,
and at the top a small blue cloud with sun rays,
tears dropping from it. There are two broad silk
ties to the front of each board, heavily fringed
with gold.
The back is divided into nine panels, each
containing an arabesque ornament worked in gold
cord and thread, the first and last panels being
larger than the others and containing a more
elaborate design. The edges of the leaves are
simply gilt, and the boards measure 18 by 12
inches each, the largest size of any embroidered
book known to me.
CHAPTER IV
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN
Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts.
Bound probably about 1536.
lERHAPS the earliest existing-
English book bound in satin is
a collection of sixteenth - century-
tracts that belonged to Henry viii.,
and is now part of the Old Royal
Library in the British Museum.
It is covered in red satin, measures 12 by 8
inches, and is embroidered in an arabesque
design, outlined with gold cord. On the edges
the words ' Rex in aeternum vive Neez ' are
written in gold. The word ' Neez ' or ' Nez,' as
it is sometimes spelt, may mean Nebuchadnezzar,
as the other words were addressed to him. On
books bound in leather by Thomas Berthelet,
royal binder to Henry viii. and his immediate
successors, the motto often occurs, and as he
is known to have bound books in ' crymosyn
satin,' this is most likely his work. The pattern
54 — Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts.
35 — New Testament in Greek.
Leyden, 1570.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 8i
is worked irregularly all round the boards, and a
sort of arabesque bridge crosses the centres. The
back is new, and of leather, but the boards them-
selves are the original ones, and the embroidery
is in a very fair condition.
New Testament in Greek. Leyden, 1576.
If early bindings in satin are rare, still rarer
is the use of silk. One example worked on
white ribbed silk still remains that belonged to
Queen Elizabeth. It measures 4f by 2f inches,
and in its time was no doubt a very decorative
and interesting piece of work, but it is now in
a very dilapidated state, largely due to improper
repairing. The book has actually been rebound
in leather, and the old embroidered sides stuck
on. So it must be remembered that my illustra-
tion of it is considerably restored. The design,
alike on both sides, is all outlined with gold cords
and twists of different kinds and thicknesses, and
the colour is added in water-colours on the silk.
In the centre is the royal coat-of-arms within an
oval garter ensigned with a royal crown, in the
adornment of which a few seed pearls are used,
as they are also on the ends of the garter.
Enclosing the coat-of-arms is an ornamental
border of straight lines and curves, worked with
a thick gold twist, intertwined with graceful
sprays of double and single roses, outlined in
L
82 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
gold and coloured red, with buds and leaves. A
few symmetrical arabesques, similarly outlined
and coloured, fill in some of the remaining spaces.
The work on this book, a New Testament in
Greek, printed at Leyden in 1576, is like no
other; but the general idea of the design, rose-
sprays cleverly intertwined, is one that may be
considered characteristic of the Elizabethan em-
broidered books, as it frequently occurs on them.
The use of water-colour with embroidery is very
rare, and it is never found on any but silk or
satin bindings, generally as an adjunct in support
of coloured-silk work over it, but in this single
instance it is used alone.
Seventeenth-Centitry Embroidered Books.
The books described hitherto have been
specimens of rare early instances, but in the
seventeenth century there is a very large field
to choose from. Small books, mostly religious
works, were bound in satin from the beginning
of the century until the time of the Common-
wealth in considerable numbers ; so much so, in
fact, that their value depends not so much upon
their designs or workmanship as upon their
condition.
It is generally considered that embroidered
books are extremely delicate, but this is not
so ; they will stand far more wear than would
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 83
be imagined from their frail appearance. The
embroidered work actually protects the satin,
and such signs of wear as are visible are often
found rather in the satin itself, where unprotected,
than in the work upon it. In many cases a
peculiar appearance, which is often mistaken for
wear, is seen in the case of representations of
insects, caterpillars, or butterflies particularly.
These creatures, or parts of them, appear to
consist only of slight stitches of plain thread,
suggesting either that the work has never been
finished, or else that the finished portions have
worn away. The real fact is, however, that these
places have been originally worked with small
bright pieces of peacock's feather, which have
either tumbled out or been eaten away by
minute insects, a fate to which it is well known
peacocks' feathers are particularly liable.
The late Lady Charlotte Schreiber, who was a
great collector of pieces of old embroidery, among
a host of other curious things possessed the only
perfect instance of work of this kind of the
seventeenth century I have ever been fortunate
enough to find. It was a very realistic cater-
pillar, closely and completely worked with very
small pieces of 'peacocks' feathers, sewn on with
small stitches, quite confirming the opinion I
had already formed as to the original filling in
of the usual ' bald ' spaces representing such ob-
jects.
84 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
Bible. London, 1619.
A copy of a Bible, printed in London in 1619,
is bound in white satin, and measures 6 by 3^
inches. On each side is an emblematic figure
enclosed in an oval ; the figures are different, but
their surroundings are alike. On the upper side
a lady holding a palm branch in her right hand is
worked in shading-stitch. She is full length, and
wears an orange skirt with purple robe over it
confined by a blue belt, and over her shoulders
a pink jacket — all these garments are outlined by
a gold cord. Her fair hair is covered by an
ornamental cap of red and gold, and her feet are
bare.
The ground is worked with coloured silks and
threads of fine wire closely twisted round with
coloured silks, and the sky, painted in gradations
of pink in water-colours, is worked sparsely with
long stitches of blue silk.
The lower side shows a female figure worked in
a similar way ; in this case she bears in her right
hand some kind of wand or spray, which has
nearly worn off, and in her left a bunch of corn or
grapes, or something of that kind which has also
badly worn away. If the first figure may be con-
sidered to represent Peace, this one may perhaps
be Plenty. She wears a deep purplish skirt, with
full over-garment and body of the same colour,
with an under-jacket of white and gold. On her
;6 — Bible. Loudon, 1619.
61-
Emblemes Chrestiens MS 1624.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 85
dark hair she has a blue flower with red leaves.
Her feet are bare. The ground and sky are both
worked in the same way as the other side. Both
figures are enclosed in a flat oval border of gold
thread, broad at the top and narrowing towards
the foot. In the corners are symmetrical arab-
esques thickly worked in gold, and within the
larger spaces in each corner-piece are the ' remains '
of feathered caterpillars, now skeleton forms of
threads only. The back of the book is particu-
larly good, and most beautifully worked. It is
divided into five panels, within each of which is
a conventional flower, a cornflower alternating
with a carnation, and the colours of all of these
are marvellously fresh and effective. Among
embroidered panelled backs it is probably the
finest specimen existing.
E7nblemes Chrestiens, par Georgette de Mon-
tenay. ms. a Lislebourg. [Edinburgh]
1624.
Charles i., when he was Prince of Wales, often
uSed the book-stamps that had been cut for his
brother Henry, and he also particularly liked the
triple plume of ostrich feathers. It occurs, as
has been shown, on one of Prince Henry's
velvet-bound books, and it forms the central
design on the satin binding of an exquisite
manuscript written by Esther Inglis, a celebrated
86 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
calligraphist, who lived in the seventeenth century.
It is a copy of the Einblenies Chrestiens, by
Georgette de Montenay, dedicated to Prince
Charles, covered in red satin embroidered with
gold and silver threads, cords, and guimp,
with a few pearls, measuring ii^ by yf inches.
In the centre is the triple ostrich plume within
a coronet, enclosed in an oval wreath oi laurel
tied with a tasselled knot. A rectangular border
closely filled with arabesques runs parallel to the
edges of the boards, and there is a fleuron at each
of the inner corners. In all cases the design is
outlined in gold cord, and the thick parts of the
design are worked in silver guimp.' There are
several spangles, and on the rim of the coronet
are three pearls.
New Testament. London, 1625.
One of the most curious embroidered satin
bindings still left is now in the Bodleian Library,
and a slightly absurd tradition about it says that
the figure oi David, which certainly is something
like Charles i., is clothed in a piece of a waistcoat
that belonged to that king.
It is a New Testament, printed in London in
1625, and covered in white satin, with a different
design embroidered on each side. It measures 4^
by 3^ inches. On the upper board is David with
a harp. He wears a long red cloak lined with
CI
o
D
CO
^^r^^^:^^,<^^v>V^vv^^%-v^ v^^Tv^^
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 87
ermine, with a white collar, an under-garment
of pale brown, and high boots with spur-
straps and red tops. On his head is a royal
crown of gold with red cap, and he is playing
upon a golden harp. The face of this figure
resembles that of Charles i. The red cloak
is worked in needlepoint lace, and is in deep
folds in high relief. These folds are actually
modelled in waxed paper, the needlework being
stretched over them, and probably fixed on by
a gentle heat. The other parts of the dress
are worked in the same way, but without the
waxed paper, and the edges of the garments
are in some places marked with what might be
called a metal fringe, made in a small recurring
pattern.
David is standing upon a grass plot, repre-
sented by small arches of green purl, and before
him is sitting a small dog with a blue collar.
Above the dog is a small yellow and black pansy,
then a large blue 'lace' butterfly, on a chenille
patch, and a brown flying bird. Behind David
there is a tall conventional lily and a flying bird.
The sky is overcast with heavy clouds of red and
blue, but a golden sun with tinsel rays is showing
under the larger of them. On the lower board
is a representation of Abraham about to sacri-
fice Isaac. Abraham is dressed in a red under-
garment on waxed paper, in heavy folds with
a belt and edge of stamped-out metal, a blue
88 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
flowing cape and high boots, all worked in needle-
point lace in coloured silks.
In his right hand he holds a sword, and his
tall black hat is on the ground beside him. On
the ground towards the left is Isaac in an attitude
of prayer, his hands crossed, with two sheaves of
firewood. He wears a red coat with a small blue
cape. The ground is green and brown chenille.
Above Isaac is a gourd, and above this a silver
ram caught in a bush, on a patch of grass indi-
cated by green purl. The sky is occupied by a
large cloud, out of which leans an angel with
wings, the hands outstretched and restraining
Abraham's sword.
On the back are four panels, containing respec-
tively from the top a butterfly, a rose, a bird,
and a yellow tulip, all worked in needlepoint
and appliqud. The pieces that are in high
relief all over the book are edged with gold
twist, and have moreover their counterparts under
them closely fastened down to the satin. There
are several gold spangles in the various spaces
between the designs ; the whole is edged with a
strong silver braid, and there are two clasps with
silver attachments.
Considering the high relief in which much of
this work is done, the binding is in wonderful
preservation, but many of the colours are badly
faded, as it has been exposed to the action of
light in one of the show-cases for many years.
39 — New Testament and Psalms. London, 1630.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 89
Although no doubt it is advisable to expose
many treasures in this way, it must be admitted
that in the case of embroidered books it is fre-
quently, if not always, a cause of rapid deteriora-
tion, so much so that I should almost think in
these days of good chromo-printing it would
be worth the while of the .ruling powers of our
great museums to consider whether it would
not be wiser to exhibit good colour prints to
the light and keep the precious originals in safe
obscurity, to be brought out, of course, if required
by students.
4
New Testament mtd Psalms. London, 1630.
Several small English books of the seventeenth
century were bound ' double,' i.e. two volumes
side by side, so as to open different ways (com-
pare p. 38). Each of the books, which are always
of the same size, has a back and one board to
itself, the other board, between them, being
common to both. As already stated, this form
of book occurs rarely in canvas bindings, and it
is of commoner occurrence in satin.
A design which is frequently met with is well
shown in the case of a double specimen containing
the New Testament and the Psalms, printed in
London in 1630, and covered in white satin,
measuring ^\ by 2 inches, the ornamentation
being the same on both sides. In the centre, in
M
90 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
an oval, is a delicately worked iris of many colours
in feather-stitch, the petals edged with fine silver
cord. The oval is marked by a silver cord, beyond
which are ornamental arabesques outlined in cord
and filled in solidly, in high relief, with silver
thread.
The backs are divided into five panels, contain-
ing alternately flowers in red, blue, and green silks,
and star shapes in silver thread in high relief.
Silver spangles have been freely used, but most
of them have now gone ; the edges of the leaves
are gilt and gauffred in a simple dotted pattern.
To the middle of the front edge of one of the
boards is attached a long green ribbon of sUk
which wraps round both volumes.
Henshaw, HorcB Successivce. London, 1632.
l^tXi'^2.\NsHorceSuccessi'vcE, printed in London
in 1632, is bound in white satin, and measures
4I by 2 inches. It is very delicately and prettily
worked in a floral design, the same on both sides,
and is remarkable for its simplicity — a flower
with stalk and leaves in the centre, one in each
corner, and an insect in the spaces between them.
The centre flower is a carnation, round it are
pansy, rose, cornflower, and strawberry, while
between them are a caterpillar, snail, butterfly,
and moth. All of these are delicately worked
in feather-stitch in the proper colours, and edged
40— Henshaw, Horae Successiva;. London, 1632.
o
c
o
r-"
C
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 91
all round with fine gold cord ; the stalks are of
the same cord used double. On the strawberries
there is some fine knotted work.
The back is divided into four panels, containing
a cornflower, rose, pansy, and strawberry, worked
exactly in the same way as their prototypes on
the sides. There were several gold spangles on
sides and back, but many of them have been
broken off, and on the front edges of each board
are the remains of pale green ties of silk.
Psalms. London, 1633.
A copy of the Psalms, printed in London in
1633, is bound in white satin, embroidered in
coloured silks worked in satin-stitch, and measures
3 by 2 inches. On the upper board is a gentleman
dressed in the style of the period, with trunk hose
of red and yellow, a short jacket of the same
colouring, and a long, reddish cape. He has a
broad-brimmed hat with coloured feathers, a large
white collar, and a sword in his right hand. Near
him is a beetle, and in the sky a blue cloud, and
he is standing upon a grass mound. On the
lower board is the figure of a lady in a deep pink
dress, with white collar and cap. She holds a
tall red lily in her right hand, and in the upper
left-hand corner is a small cloud under which the
sun is just appearing, and in the lower corner is
a small flower. The lady is standing upon a
92 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
small green mound. The outlines of both figures,
as well as the inner divisions between the vari-
ous garments, are marked with a gold or silver
thread.
The back is divided into four panels, in which
are a fly, a rose, a larger fly, and a blue flower.
The outlines and legs of both the insects were
marked originally with small pieces of peacocks'
feathers, but the upper fly has lost most of these ;
the lower one, however, more ornamental, shows
them clearly, and has the thorax still in excellent
preservation, glittering with little points of green
and gold. There is one broad ribbon of striped
silk attached to the lower board.
This little book, which is in a wonderful state
of preservation, has been always kept in the
beautiful embroidered bag which I have described
already on p. i6.
Psalms. London, 1635.
One of the most finely embroidered bindings
existing on satin occurs on a small copy of the'
Psalms, printed in London in 1635, and measur-
ing 2>\ by 3 inches. The design is one which
has been repeated in other sizes with small differ-
ences. There is a larger specimen at the Bodleian,
but the British Museum example is the finer
altogether.
On each side there is an oval containing an
42 — Psalms. London, 163;
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 93
elaborate design most delicately worked in feather-
stitch, the edges and outlines marked with very
fine gold twist. On the upper board there is a
seated allegorical figure with cornucopia, probably
representing Plenty. Behind her is an orna-
mental landscape with a piece of water, the bright
lines of which are feelingly rendered with small
stitches of silver thread, hills with trees, and a
castle in the distance. The other side has a
similarly worked figure of Peace, a seated figure
holding a palm branch ; the landscape is of a
similar character to that on the upper board, but
the river or lake has a bridge over it. The work
itself is of the same very delicate kind, the edges
and folds of the dress being marked with fine
gold twist.
Each of these ovals is marked by a solid
framework with scrolls, strongly made with silver
threads, and in high relief; in each corner is a
very finely worked flower or fruit, pansy, straw-
berry, tulip, and lily. The back is divided into
four panels, a very decorative conventional flower
being worked in each, representing probably a
red lily, a tulip, a blue and yellow iris, and a
daffodil. The edges of the boards are bound
with a broad silver braid, the edges of the leaves
are gilded and prettily gauffred, and there are
remains of four silver ties.
94 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
Psalms. London, 1633.
There is often much speculation as to who
can have worked the English embroidered books,
and it is very rarely that any reliable information
on this interesting point is available.
There is, however, a manuscript note in a copy
of the Psalms, printed in 1633 ^^^ bound in em-
broidered white satin, that the work upon it was
done by ' Elizabeth, wife of Matthew Wren, Bishop
of Ely,' who was an uncle of the architect. The
volume still belongs to a member of the family,
Dr. W. T. Law of Portland Place, who has most
kindly allowed me to give an illustration of this
beautiful book. It measures 4 by 3 inches. The
design is different in details on each board, the
central design, however, being in each case con-
tained within a strongly worked gold border in
high relief, widening out at each extremity into
a crownlike form, and richly augmented at
intervals with clusters of seed pearls. On the
upper board within the oval is a double rose with
curving stem, leaves, and a bud ; the petals are
worked in needlepoint, with fine gold twist at the
edges, and a cluster of pearls in the centre. In the
upper corners are a butterfly, with needlepoint
wings, and a bird, with needlepoint wing and tail.
In the lower corners are a unicorn and an antlered
stag, both recumbent, and in high relief.
On the lower board within the oval is a vine,
O
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BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 95
with curving stem and two large grape clusters,
tendrils, and leaves, growing from a small green
mound. The edges of the petals are bound with
a fine gold twist, as are also the edges and out-
lines of the leaves, and most of these parts are
worked in coloured silks, mixed with fine metal
threads, in needlepoint lace-stitch.
A few hazel-nuts are scattered about outside
the gold oval, and in each corner is a further
ornamentation : a reddish butterfly with wings of
needlepoint lace in relief and edged with a gold
cord, a green parrot with red wings and tail, are
in the two top corners, and in the two lower are a
rabbit and a dog, each on a small green ground.
Innumerable gold spangles are all over the sides
and back, each kept in place by a small pearl
stitched through.
The back is divided into five panels, by rows
of pearls, and a conventional flower is in each,
except the centre one which has an insect. These
are all worked in needlepoint and edged with
gold twist, the stems of some of them strongly
made by a kind of braid of gold cords.
This little book is certainly one of the most
ornamental specimens of any of the smaller satin-
bound books of the seventeenth century, and
although here and there some of the pearls are
gone, altogether it is in very good condition, and
it is rarely that such a fine example can now be
met with in private hands.
96 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
Bible. London, 1638.
Several of the embroidered books on satin are
worked chiefly in metal threads, and the designs
on such books are not as a rule good. Whether
the knowledge that the work was to be executed
in strong threads has hampered the designer or
not cannot be said, but certainly there is often a
tinselly effect about these bindings that is not
altogether pleasing.
In the case of a Bible printed in London in
1638, bound in white satin, and measuring 6 by
3 inches, one of the chief ornaments is a cherub's
head, the face in silver and the hair and wings in
gold. The working of this head and wings seems
to me wrong. The face is, possibly enough, as
well done as the material would allow, but
the hair is made in small curls of gold thread,
and the feathers of the wings are rendered in
a naturalistic way with pieces of flat gold braid.
This kind oi realism is out of place in em-
broidery, and it is unfortunately characteristic
of the English embroidered work of about this
period, occurring generally on boxes, mirror
frames, or the like, but only rarely on book-covers.
The design is the same on both sides ; a narrow
arch of thick gold cord reaches about three-
quarters up the side, and interwoven with it is a
kind of cusped oval, with leaves, reaching up to
the top of the book. The lower half of the arch
0if ^*^^*"
44 — Bible. London, 1638.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 97
is enclosed in a rectangular band of silver threads,
broad and kept in place by transverse bars at
regular intervals, and beyond it another row,
made of patches of red and blue silk alternately.
In the lower part of the oval is a ground of green
silk, on which grow two double roses made of red
purl. In the space enclosed between the top of
the arch and the lower point of the oval is a bird
worked in high relief in gold with a touch of red
silk on his wings. Over the bird is a blue cloud,
heavily worked in blue silk, and beneath is a
small grass plot. The cherub's head already
described is in the space between the top of the
arch and the upper extremity of the oval ; it is
flanked by two small red purl roses. The two
upper corners have undulating clouds in blue
silk, and a red and yellow purl rose between them.
There are several gold spangles all about, and
innumerable small pieces of coloured purl.
The back is divided into four panels, in which
are, alternately, a rose-tree on which are two red
roses with yellow centres and green leaves, grow-
ing from a grass plot, and a blue rose with
yellow centre and green leaves under a red cloud
with silver rays. There are several spangles and
some small pieces of coloured purl scattered
about in the spaces.
The book is in excellent condition, owing, no
doubt, to the fact that most of it is in metal, but
it is representative of the lowest level to which the
N
98 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
art of the embroidered book in England has ever
fallen.
Psalms. London, 1639.
A charming little piece of delicate workman-
ship occurs in a copy of the Psalms, printed in
London in 1639, and bound in white satin. It
measures 3 by 2 inches. The design on each
side is the same, but the work is slightly dif-
ferent. A tall rose-tree, with gold stem, grows
from a small chenille base, the rose petals
beautifully worked in the finest of stitches, as
well as the leaves, all of which are outlined with
fine gold thread. From the lower branches of
the rose-tree hang on one side a violet, and on
the other a pansy, each worked in the same way
as the rose, and edged with fine gold thread.
The back is divided into four panels, containing
respectively a cornflower, a pomegranate, a fruit,
perhaps meant for an apple, and a honeysuckle,
all conventionally treated and very delicately
worked. The edge is bound all round with a
strong braid, and there is one tie of broad,
cherry-silk ribbon. With this book is its can-
vas bag, embroidered in silver ground with
coloured-silk flowers and tassels of silver, the
general design and workmanship of which nearly
resembles that of the finer bag already described
at page 16. The silver has turned nearly black,
as is usually the case with these bags.
45 — Psalms. London, 1639.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 99
The Way to True Happiness.
London, 1639.
A copy of The Way to True Happiness,
printed in London in 1639, is bound in white
satin, and embroidered with figures of David and
a Queen. It is a little larger than the majority
of the satin-embroidered books, measuring 7 by
df\ inches, and is, for its time, a very fine speci-
men. Both figures stand under an archway with
columns, all worked heavily in silver cord, guimp,
and thread. The columns have ornamental capi-
tals and a spiral running round their shafts, and
the upper edge of the arch is ornamented with
crockets of a peculiar shape. Within this arch-
way, on the upper cover, is a full-length figure
of a Queen, finely worked in split-stitch with
coloured silks. She wears a red dress with long,
falling sleeves, a purple body and gold collar.
On her head is a golden crown, with six points.
She carries, in her left hand, a golden sceptre,
and has also a golden belt. The outlines are
everywhere marked either with a gold or silver
twist. On the ground, which is in small hillocks,
grow a strawberry and two other small plants ;
a snail is also shown. Scattered about the field
are a ' skeleton ' caterpillar — at one time probably
filled in with peacocks' feathers, — a conventional
lily, a butterfly, and the sun, with rays, just
appearing from under a cloud. In the two upper
loo ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
corners are flowers, a pansy and another, and
smaller ones down each side.
On the lower board, within the arch, is a
figure of David. He wears a short tunic of
orange and silver, with vandyked edge, and a
short skirt of blue and silver, with a long cloak
of cream, pink, and silver, clasped with a silver
brooch ; on his head he wears a silver crown,
with a red cap and green and red feathers ; on
his feet are brown, high boots. In his left hand
is a silver harp of ornamental pattern, and in his
right a silver sceptre with a little gold about it.
The ground, in hillocks, has a few small flowers
growing upon it, and a large tulip is just in front
of the King; on the field are also a moth and
a snail. At the top is a blue cloud. The upper
corners have a red and yellow tulip and a pansy
with bud in them, and smaller flowers are worked
down each side. The back is very tastefully
ornamented with an undulating scroll of gold
cord, widening out here and there into con-
ventional leaves of gold guimp in relief. On this
scroll are sitting three birds, and there are also
a bunch of grapes, a tulip, daffodil, and other
flowers with leaves, conventionally treated, all
worked in coloured silks.
There are the remains of two red and
yellow silk ties on the front edges of each
board, and the edges of the leaves are gilded
and gauffred. With this book is a canvas bag,
o
o
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E
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H
2
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN loi
simply ornamented with a design worked in red
silk.
New Testament. London, 1640.
The curious little New Testament of 1625, now
at Oxford, which I have already described, is per-
haps the earliest example left on which needle-
point lace in coloured silks is much employed.
It occurs again largely on another small
New Testament, printed in 1640, bound in white
satin, measuring 4-^ by 2\ inches ; now in the
British Museum. In this case the artist has not
attempted the difficult task of producing a satis-
factory figure in needlework, but has very properly
limited her skill to the reproduction of flower and
animal forms. On the upper cover is a spray of
columbine, the petals of which, pink and blue,
are each worked separately in needlepoint lace
stitch, and afterwards tacked on to a central rib.
The stalks and leaves of this spray are also
worked in needlepoint, and on the top sits a
bullfinch, worked in many colours in the same
way, but fastened down close to the satin all
round. In the corners are a beetle, a nondescript
flower, a bud, and a butterfly with coloured wings
in needlepoint, with replicas of them closely
appliquds just underneath, on the satin. On the
lower board is a spray of a five-petalled blue
flower, the petals of which were originally worked
in needlepoint and fastened on a central rib, but
I02 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
they have now all gone except two, leaving the
rib of thick pink braid. The supporting replicas
underneath are, however, perfect, showing what
the original upper petals were like. This spray
has two leaves, exquisitely worked in needle-
point, and fastened by a stitch at one end, with
the usual flat replicas underneath them, and there
is also a bud. The stem is a piece of green
braid. Above the spray is a parrot in needle-
point, most of him fastened down round the
edges, but his wings and tail left free. In
the upper corner are two strawberries, and in
the lower a butterfly, with coloured wings, left
free in needlepoint. There are also two cater-
pillars on this side.
On the back are three large flowers heavily
worked in silk and metal threads, in needlepoint,
and appliquds — a pansy, lily, and rose, with stalks
of green braid. The boards are edged all round
with a gold braid, and there are two green silk
ties on each for the front edges. There are
several gold spangles all about, but many more
have gone. The work on both boards is very
delicate, but that on the back is curiously coarse. -
Such imitative work as the needlepoint, which
is perhaps seen at its best in the columbine,
and the leaves on this book, is at all times a
dangerous thing to use, except when it is only
used as appliqu^, as in the beautiful cover be-
longing to this book, which I have described on
^8— Psalms. London, 1641,
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 103
page 18, and the work on which is very likely
by the same skilled hand as that on the book.
I believe this use of the needlepoint, or button-
hole stitch, is only found in English work ; it is
exactly the same as is used on the old Venetian
and other so-called ' point ' laces, but executed in
fine-coloured silk instead of linen thread, and
without open spaces.
Psalms. London, 1641.
Nicholas Ferrar's establishment at Little
Gidding in Huntingdonshire is often credited
with having produced embroidered books, but
there is really wo authority for the belief. All
the authentic bindings which came from Little
Gidding have technical shortcomings from a
bookbinding point of view, none of which are
found on any embroidered books.
In the History of the Worthies of England,
by Thomas Fuller, there is a short note about
Little Gidding, and he says about the ladies there
that ' their own needles were emploied in learned
and pious work to binde Bibles.' This note and
the mention of needles may have perhaps given
the start to the belief that embroidered work was
intended, but in all probability it only refers
to the sewing of the leaves of the books upon the
bands of the back, which is done with needle and
thread. Moreover, the ladies of Little Gidding
I04 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
did actually sew the backs of their books in a
needlessly elaborate way, putting in ten or twelve
bands where three or four would have been ample.
I also think that if embroidery had been intended
by the sentence above quoted, it would have been
more clearly mentioned. To ' emploie needles to
bind Bibles ' is hardly the description one would
expect if the meaning was that when bound the
Bibles were covered in embroidered work ; but
it may be safely interpreted as it is written, the
sewing being a most important part of a book-
binding, and one likely to be much thought of by
amateur binders, as the nieces of Nicholas Ferrar
were.
The attribution of embroidered bindings to
Little Gidding may also have been strengthened
by the fact that many of the bindings made there
are in velvet, the ornamentation on which, though
it is actually stamped in gold and silver, does to
some extent suggest embroidery. Indeed, I have
myself heard the remark, on showing one of these
books, 'Oh, yes! Embroidery.'
Again, a peculiarity of the Little Gidding
books is, generally, their large size, whereas the
embroidered books, especially the satin ones, are
usually very small.
One of the embroidered books thus wrongly
credited to Little Gidding is a Psalter, printed
in London in 164 1. It is bound in white satin,
very tastefully embroidered, the same design
O
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BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 105
being on each side, and measures 4 by 2 inches.
In the centre is a large orange tulip, shading from
yellow to red, finely worked in silks in shading-
stitch. The stem is outlined in gold cord, and
has also symmetrical curves and leaves, some
of which are filled in with silver guimp. The
flower is enclosed in an ornamental scroll and
leaf border, all made with gold threads and twists,
and having leaf forms in relief at intervals in
silver guimp. The back has five panels, orna-
mented alternately with guimp scrolls and small
spheres of coloured silk. There have been
spangles and small pieces of guimp scattered
about on the sides and back, but most of them
have gone. There are no ties, and the edges of
the leaves are gilt, and have a small gauffred
pattern upon them.
The design of this book is extremely simple
and effective ; the fine stitching on the tulip con-
trasts well with the strong metal border enclosing
it. It may be considered a favourable specimen
of the commonest type of satin embroidered books
of the seventeenth century. It is not in very
good condition.
Psalms. London, 1643.
A very quaint design embroidered on white
satin covers a copy of the Psalms, printed in
London in 1643, and measuring \\ by 3I
io6 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
inches. On the upper side is a representation of
Jacob wrestling with the angel, flanked by two
trees with large leaves ; the angel has wings and
long petticoats. The lower board has a represen-
tation of Jacob's dream. The patriarch is asleep
on the grass, his head upon a white stone, his
staff and gourd by his side. He has pale hair
and beard. Behind him is a large tree, and in
front a conventional flower with leaves and bud,
and from the clouds reaches a ladder on which
are three small winged angels, two coming down,
and one between them going up. Through a
break in the clouds is seen a bright space,
with rays of golden light proceeding from it.
The back is divided into five panels, in each
of which is a flower. These resemble, to some
extent, a red tulip, a lily, a red dahlia, a yellow
tulip, and a red rose. The work here is not
protected by any strong or metal threads, and it
is consequently much worn. There are no signs
of any tie ribbon, and the edges are plainly gilt.
Psalms. London, 1643.
Another copy of the Psalms, printed in
London in 1643, bound in satin, and measuring
3J by 2.\ inches, bears on each side, within a
circle, a miniature portrait of Charles i. worked
in feather-stitch. The king wears long hair,
moustache, and small pointed beard. He is
50 — Psalms. London, 164-
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 107
crowned, and has a red cloak with miniver tippet,
from under which appears the blue ribbon of the
Garter worn round the neck, as it originally was,
and having a small gold medallion attached to it.
The initials C. R. in gold guimp are at each side.
The circle is enclosed in a strong framework of
silver cord and guimp in the form of four thin
long pointed ovals of leaf form arranged as a
diamond. The four triangular spaces between
the diamond and the oval are filled with small
flowers or small pieces of guimp and spangles.
Towards each corner grows a flower, two pansies,
and two others with regular petals. The remain-
ing spaces are filled variously with green leaves,
small patches of purl and gold spangles, and a
strong gold cord encloses the whole. The back
is divided into three panels, in each of which is
an ornamental conventional flower, the upper and
lower ones alike, and worked in shades of red
with guimp leaves in relief, and the centre one
with six petals worked in yellow and edged with
a fine gold cord. There are no signs of ties ever
having existed, and the edges of the leaves are
gilt and slightly gauffred. It has been suggested
that this little book may have belonged to King
Charles i. ; but the fact of his portrait being upon
it is no proof of this, as portraits of this king
are more numerous upon the bindings of English
books than those of any other person.
io8 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
Psalms. London, 1646.
The value of ' purl ' was recognised some few
years back, when I had some made, and explained
its value and use to the Royal School of Art
Needlework at South Kensington, and I believe
they used it considerably.
On books the use of purl is generally auxiliary,
but one small book bound in white satin, and
measuring 4 by 2.\ inches, a copy of the Psalms,
printed in London in 1646, is entirely embroidered
in this material, helped with gold braid and cord.
The design is approximately the same on each
side, a large flower with leaves in the centre, and
a smaller flower in each corner. On the upper
cover the centre flower is yellow and red, with
two large green leaves, and the corner flowers are,
possibly, intended for a cornflower, a jonquil, a
lily, and a rose, but the material is so unwieldy
that the forms are difficult to trace, and flowers
worked in it are likely to assume forms that
are unrecognisable, when finished, however well
designed to start with. All the flowers and leaves
are made with the purl cut into short lengths,
drawn together at the ends by a thread run
through, thus forming a succession of small
arches. The stalks are made in gold cord. The
flowers on the other side are, perhaps, a carnation
in the centre, and round it a convolvulus, lily,
daflbdil, and rose. The back is divided into five
pj>^mrwp*'<.:
2, — Psalms. London, 1646.
52 — Bible. London, 1646.
BOOKS BOUND IN SATIN 109
panels, in each of which is a ' purl ' flower, all
worked in the same way, representing successively
a tulip, cornflower, carnation, lily, rose, or some-
thing analogous to them ; round the designs are
straight pieces of brown purl, and the edges are
bound with a broad gold braid. There are no
ties or signs of any, and the edges are simply
gilt. The purl is undoubtedly very strong ; I
possess a small patch-box worked on white satin
in a similar way to this little book, and although
it has been roughly used for some two hundred
and fifty years, the colour of the purl is still good ;
the upper surfaces of the small spirals, however,
show the copper wire bare almost everyu'here.
The book, not having had anything like the hard
wear, is in very good condition, but it is too small
for the proper use of so much thick thread. The
larger leaves and petals are made in relief by
being sewn on over a few pieces of purl laid
underneath them at right angles.
Bible. London, 1646.
A Bible printed in London in 1646 is bound
in white satin, and embroidered in coloured silks
and gold braid and cord, measuring 6 by 3^
inches. The same design is on both sides. In
the centre within an oval of gold braid and cord
is a spray of vine, with two bunches of grapes,
three leaves and a tendril, the fruit and leaves
no ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
worked in silk, and the stem in gold cord. En-
closing the oval is an arabesque design worked in
gold cord and guimp, and at each corner is an
oval of thin gold strips and gold cord ; the gold
strips are done in the manner known as ' lizzard-
ing,' and are kept down by small stitches at
intervals.
The back has four panels, in each of which is
an arabesque design in coloured silks and gold
cord or braid. Although this book is com-
paratively late, it is in a bad condition, and
shows much wear ; the design also is weak, and
the workmanship inferior.
INDEX
Appliqu^ Awork, remarks on, 24.
Arthur, Prince of Wales, ostrich feather
badge used by, 73.
Bacon's ' Essays' (1625), 76 ; ' Works '
(1623), 75-
Bags for embroidered books, 16.
Berthelet, Thomas, bookbinder and
printer, 74, 80.
Bible, 1543 ed., 54; 1583 ed., 67;
1590 ed., 70; 1612 ed., 39; 1619 ed.,
84 ; 1626 ed., 45 ; 1638 ed., 96 ;
1642 ed., 48 ; 1646 ed., 109 ; 1648
ed., 49 ; 1674 ed., 78.
Biblioth^que Nationale, embroidered
books in the, 20.
Bodleian Library, embroidered books
in the, 25.
Brassington, Mr. W. Salt, i.
Brion, Martin de, ' Tr^s ample descrip-
tion de la Terre Sainte,' 52.
British Museum, embroidered books
in the, 25, 27.
Broiderers, hints for, 21.
Buckingham, Duke of, portrait on
' Bacon's Essays, 1625,' 76.
Canvas bindings, 6, 7, 28-51.
Charles I., portrait on 'Psalms, 1643,'
106.
Charles 11., badge on 'Common
Prayer, 1638,' 77 ; 'Emblemes Chres-
tiens, 1624,' 86.
'Christian Prayers,' 1570 ed., 59 ; 1581
ed., 37; 1584 ed., 65.
Christopherson, Bishop of Chichester,
'Historia Ecclesiastica' (1569), 57.
Collection of Sixteenth Century Tracts
(1536), 80; (1610), 72.
'Common Prayer, 1638' (other editions
are with 'Psalms'), 77.
Covers for embroidered books, 18.
' Daily Exercise of a Christian, 1623,'
44-
Day, John, printer, 61.
Derome le Jeune, French bookbinder,
12.
Dibdin's ' Bibliomania,' mention of
Queen Elizabeth's embroidery in,
64.
' Double Books,' 38, 89.
Dutch embroidered books, 20.
Edges, ornamentally treated, 16.
Elizabeth, Queen, arms embroidered,
57, 72, 81 ; books embroidered by,
26, 32, 33, 35, 36.
Embroidered books, definition of, 3.
'Epistles of St. Paul, 1578,' 63.
' Felbrigge Psalter,' 26, 29.
Ferrar, Nicholas, 103.
Fitzhugh, heraldic supporter, 56.
Fletcher, Mr. W. Y., i.
Floral designs, 5, 6 ; and on the fol-
lowing books : ' Miroir of the Soul '
(1544), 32; 'Prayers of Q. Kath.
Parr' (1545), 33; Parker, ' De An-
tiq. Ecc. Britannicas' (1572), 60;
'Prayers' (1581), 37; 'Prayers'
(1584), 66; 'Orationis Dominicas
Explicatio' (1583), 67; 'Psalms,'
etc. (1606), 38; 'Bible' (1619), 85;
'Daily Exercise of a Christian'
112 ENGLISH EMBROIDERED BINDINGS
(1623), 44; Henshaw, 'Horse Suc-
cessive ' (1632), 90 ; ' Psalms' (1633),
94; 'Bible (1638), 96; 'Psalms'
(1639), 98; 'Psalms' (1641), 104;
•Psalms' (1646), 108.
Forwarding of embroidered books, 11.
French embroidered books, 20.
Fuller, Thomas, 103.
Gauffred edges, 16.
George 11., gift of the Royal Library to
the British Museum in 1757, 25.
George IH., his books largely rebound,
5-
Grenville, Right Hon. Thomas, his
books largely rebound, 5.
Guimp, description of, g.
Headbands, 15.
Henry vrii., arms on embroidered
book, 52.
Henry Benedict, Cardinal York, 19.
Henry, Prince of Wales, his use of the
ostrich feather badge, 85 ; badge
upon 'Tracts, 1610,' 73, 77, 86.
Henshaw's ' Horas Successivae,' 90.
Heraldic designs, 5, 6 ; Anns of
Henry Vlli., 52 ; Katherine Parr,
55 ; Elizabeth, 57, 72, 81 ; Badges
of Queen Mary, 57 ; Prince of
Wales, 73, 77, 86 ; Crest of Vaughan,
59-
Inglis, Esther, calligraphist, 85.
Italian embroidered bindings, 19.
James 11., initials on ' Bible, 1674,'
Law, Dr. W. T., 94.
Little Gidding, ' Needlework' done at,
103.
Lizzarding, description of, 8.
Macray, Rev. W. D., 33, 64.
Magnus, of Amsterdam, bookbinder,
10.
Martyr, Peter, ' Commonplaces,' 69.
Mary, Queen, badge on ' Psalter,'
57.
Metal threads, 8, 29.
' Miroir of the Synneful Soul,' 32.
Montenay, Georgette, 'Emblemes
Chrestiens,' 85.
New Testament, 1576 ed., 81; 1625
ed., 42 ; 1630 ed., 89 ; 1640 ed.,
lOI.
'Orationis Dominicse Explicatio,' 1583,
67.
Ostrevant, badge of the province of,
73.
Ostrich feather badge of the Princes
of Wales, origin of the, 73 ; on em-
broidered bindings, 73, 77, 86.
Parr, Queen Katherine, arms on ' Pe-
trarcha, 1544,' 55; Prayers written
by, 33-
Parker, Archbishop, 'De Antiquitate
Ecclesiae Britannicae,' 60.
Peacocks' feathers used in embroi-
deries, 82.
Pearls used in embroidered bindings :
Brion (1540), 52; Christopherson
(1569), 57; Parker (1572), 60; 'New
Testament' (1576), 81; 'Bible'
(1583), 67; 'Bible' (1590), 70;
'Tracts' (16 10), 72 ; Montenay
(1624), 85; 'Psalms' (1633), 94;
'Common Prayer' (1638), 77.
'Petrarcha, 1544,' 55.
Pomegranate badge on Queen Mary's
' Psalter,' 57.
Poncyn, of Amsterdam, bookbinder,
10.
Portraits on embroidered books, 5 ;
Charles I., 106 ; Duke of Bucking-
ham, 76.
'Psalms,' 1606 ed., 38; 1633 ed., 91,
INDEX
113
94; 1635 ed., 92; 1639 ed., 98;
1641 ed., 103; 1643 ed., 105, 106;
1646 ed., 108.
Purl, description of, 9, 10, 46 ; book
embroidered alone with, io8.
Satin bindings, 7, 8, 80-110.
Schreiber, the Lady Charlotte, 83.
Scriptural designs and figures of saints
used on embroidered books, 5, 6 ;
Abraham and Isaac, 86 ; the Annun-
ciation, 29 ; the Crucifixion, 29 ;
David, 86, 99 ; Jacob's Dream,
Jacob wrestling with the angel, 39,
106 ; St. Peter, 45 ; St. Paul, 45 ;
Solomon and the Queen of .Sheba,
39-
Silk bindings, 81.
South Kensington Museum, embroi-
dered books in the, 20.
Spangles, 9, 28.
Stitches used on embroidered books :
Buttonhole or Needlepoint lace stitch,
'New Testament' (1625), 87;
' Psalms' (1633), 95 ; ' New Testa-
ment' (1640), loi ; 'Bible' (1642),
48; 'Bible' (1648), 50.
CJiain stitch, 'Daily Exercise of a
Christian' (1623), 44.
Feather stitch, sometimes called
Shading stitch, ' Bible' (1626), 45 ;
'New Testament' (1630), 90;
Henshaw (1632), 90 ; ' Psalms '
(1635), 92 ; ' Psalms ' (1641), 105 ;
'Psalms' {i'343). lo^-
Satin stitch, ' Psalms ' (1633), 91.
Split stitch, 'Felbrigge Psalter'
(fourteenth century), 30 ; ' Way to
True Happiness' (1639), 99.
Tapestry or Tent stitch, 28 ; ' Miroir
of the Synneful Soul' (1544), 33 ;
'Prayers' (JS4S). 34 ; 'Prayers'
(1581), 37; 'Bible' (1612), 39;
Ward (1626), 41.
Symbolical figures, 5, 6 ; Faith and
Hope (1625, 1648), 42, 50; Peace
and Plenty (1619, 1635), 84, 93.
Thompson, Mr. H. Yates, 41.
Udall's 'Sermons,' 71.
Vaughan crest, on ' Christian Prayers,
1570,' 59.
Velvet bindings, 6, 7, 52-79.
Victoria, Queen, embroidered book
belonging to, 77.
Wales, ostrich plumes of the Prince
of, 73, n, 86.
Ward, Samuel, ' Sermons, 1626-7,' 4'-
Water-colours used on embroidered
bindings, 81-84.
'Way to True Happiness' (1639), 99.
Wheatley, Mr. H. B., i.
Wilton, Countess of, 33, 35, 64.
Wren, Elizabeth, book embroidered
by, 94-
York, Cardinal, 19.
PRINTED BY T. AND A. CONSTABLE, PRINTERS TO
HER MAJESTY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS,
EDINBURGH: MARCH MDCCCXCIX
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