Royal English Bookbindings

by Cyril Davenport

King Edward VI. not only had his bindings stamped with his royal badges, but the edges also sometimes came in for a share of attention, as on a copy of La Geografia di Claudio Ptolemeo, printed at Venice in 1548. On the front or fore-edge of the book is the royal coat-of-arms of England, painted on a blue ground; on the upper edge is the coat-of-arms of France, and on the lower the golden harp of Ireland. The side space on each of these edges is filled up with a delicate arrangement of interlacing strap-work in black, and further ornamented with fine gold scrolls and the initials “E. S. R.,” also in gold.

One of Edward’s books, however, has actually the first instance in an English book of a decorated “doublure,” the name by which we understand the inner side of the boards of a book.

Mr. Herbert Horne, in his most excellent work on the Binding of Books, mentions, and gives a plate of, an instance of this kind of decoration occurring on a copy of Petrarch, printed at Venice in 1532. It is an arrangement of interlaced lines of silver with two figured stamps, and is said to be the earliest European example. Edward VI.’s doublure ([Fig. 6]) is not much later, as it was probably bound about 1547, and, like nearly all doublures, it is in a wonderful state of preservation; in fact, it may be said to be the only instance of a sixteenth-century painted book that is at all in its original state, as the pigment used upon them is extremely delicate, and chips off freely. The book, a small duodecimo, is covered in crimson velvet, much worn, and is a collection of “certeine prayers and godly meditacyons,” printed at Malborow in 1538. The inner side of each of the boards is covered with calf, and the design is outlined in gold and filled in with colour. This colour is not quite like oil-paint, but resembles closely the “enamel” colours which have of late years been so well known. It has little penetrating quality, lying evenly on the top of the leather, and dries with an even and polished surface. The king’s arms, crowned, occupy the centre of the board, the arms in the correct heraldic colours and the crown of gold, silver, blue, and green. The king’s initials, stamped in gold, are on each side of the shield. A rectangular border of green encloses the coat-of-arms, and at each of the inner corners is a daisy in gold, and above and below the arms is a semicircular projection from the green border, coloured blue.

Fig. 6.—Prayers, etc. Malborow, 1538 (Doublure). Edward VI.

There is yet another volume which for many years has been by the British Museum authorities attributed to Edward VI., but Mr. W. Y. Fletcher, in his splendid volume on the English Bookbindings in the British Museum, considers it to be Elizabethan. There is no doubt that the volume in some ways fits a description of one that was presented to that queen by the University of Oxford at Woodstock in 1575, but I think the difference in the dates of printing and presentation is a weak point in the argument. The book was printed in 1544 at Zurich, and it certainly seems curious that a book printed thirty-one years before should be offered as a present to a reigning sovereign. So for the present I shall adhere to its former description in the show-case in the King’s Library, and describe it here in its place as having been bound for Edward VI. It is covered in green velvet, with a border parallel to the sides stamped in gold and bearing the legends, “Esto fidelis usque ad mortem et dabo tibi coronam vitæ—Apoc. 2” on one side, and on the other “Fidem servavi qvod svperest reposita est mihi corona jvstitiæ—2 Tim. 4.” In the centre of each cover is the royal coat-of-arms enclosed within a Garter, crowned, appliqué in pieces of coloured silk and stamped in gold, beautifully designed and beautifully executed, and the first instance of velvet or silk stamped in gold that is known to me. On the gilt edges designs are stamped, or “gauffred” as it is called, and painted. On the front edge the arms of the University of Oxford. On the upper edge a crowned Tudor rose with the initials E. R., and on the lower a portcullis with the same initials. There are other instances where the similarity between the emblems and initials of these two sovereigns, Edward VI. and Elizabeth, causes considerable doubt as to which of them was actually the owner, and I think that generally the date of the printing of such books must be considered as some authority, although among the arguments for or against the attribution of a binding to any particular owner, or author, it may be said that the date of the printing of the book must generally be esteemed at a small value.

A book which has some of the peculiarities of Berthelet’s work upon it is found in a copy of Bude’s Commentarii Linguæ Græcæ, printed at Paris in 1548. It is covered in calf, and has a rectangular border running parallel with the edges of the boards on each side. This border is coloured black, but it has the uncommon addition of stamped arabesques in gold upon this black. At the outer corners are arabesques in outline, and in the inner corners double roses stamped in gold. In the centre a framework of two interlaced squares, stained black, enclose the royal coat-of-arms and initials.

The same workman who executed this binding also made one for Queen Mary, which I shall describe further on.

At Windsor there is a fine little binding on a copy of Strena Galteri Deloeni: ex capite Geneseos quarto deprompta, etc. It is bound in white leather, and ornamented with the royal coat-of-arms in the centre, flanked by the letters “E. R.,” and surrounded by a scattered arrangement of double roses, daisies, cornucopiæ, and stars, all enclosed in a small decorated border. It is probably by Berthelet, and is in excellent condition. In the British Museum there are instances of bindings in white leather made for Henry VIII. and for Mary, but there is no instance of one made for Edward VI., so that this Windsor binding is of considerable interest apart from its beauty.