The lion and the unicorn have remained ever since the time of James I. as the supporters of the English Royal coat-of-arms, without any change whatever.
In Scotland James VI. had John Gibson for his bookbinder. He was appointed under the Privy Seal, and was "Our Soverane Lordis Buikbinder," but there is no binding left that can with certainty be attributed to him. On James's advent to England John and Roger Norton and Robert and Christopher Barker were made Royal binders and printers, and in 1604 John and Abraham Bateman were made "Bookbinders to the King."
The many fine armorial bindings which were used by James I. were probably made by one or other of these binders, but for the present no signed binding has been found, so the authorship of any one of them is only conjectural.
The main characteristic of the finer bindings made for James I. is the form of ornamentation known as a semis, that is to say, a powdering all over the field of small stamps arranged symmetrically near together. The commonest of these small stamps show stars, flaming hearts, ermine spots, roses, thistles, pineapples, tridents, fleurs-de-lys, and lions, but there are several others. Another characteristic is the presence of large corner stamps. These are cut in arabesque designs, and many of them are very handsome. The idea of corner ornamentation of this sort began late in Queen Elizabeth's reign, but it did not reach its highest excellence in stamp form until well into the reign of James I.
James I. was the first sovereign to have his books mainly bound in morocco, and this leather is found in most quiet colours—greens and browns and blues, but not red. Several beautiful volumes are also bound in vellum, and others in velvet and satin. The Jacobean period was a decorative one, but not one of the highest level of the art of bookbinding. The greater number of James I.'s books came to the British Museum by gift of George II. in 1757, with the rest of the Old Royal Library of England.
JAMES II., KING OF GREAT BRITAIN, FRANCE, AND IRELAND
Arms.—Within the Garter. Quartered.
1st and 4th grand quarters, quarterly, France and England.