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.
28—Udall, Sermons. London, 1596. (From a drawing).
A few specimens of embroidered books were exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1891. Among them was a charming velvet binding 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 appliqué, 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, doubtless 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.
29—Collection of Sixteenth-Century Tracts.
To Henry, Prince of Wales, we owe a great debt of gratitude, as he was the first person of much consequence in our royal family to take any real interest in the Old Royal Library.