It must be supposed that the bindings of both Lord Arundel’s and Lord Lumley’s collection were in a bad state when Prince Henry acquired them, as they now are almost invariably in bindings that were made for him after 1610, when he was made Prince of Wales. On the Prince’s death, his library, which was then kept at St. James’s, reverted to the king, and served largely to augment the old royal library, which had not been very carefully kept up to the present time, and which, even afterwards, suffered various losses.
The majority of Prince Henry’s rebindings are designed in a fashion which has been very adversely criticised, but nevertheless they are not all without interest. The commonest decoration found upon them consists of a large royal coat-of-arms of England within a scroll border with thistles, stamped in gold, having the label of the eldest son in silver. At the corners are very large stamps, either crowned double roses, fleurs-de-lis, lions rampant, all in gold, or the Prince of Wales’ feathers in silver. Books bearing this design are more frequently met with outside the large royal collections than any others, as at one time or another many examples have become separated from the rest. But there are other books bound for the Prince the designs on which are often original and effective. Perhaps the best of these is on a copy of Livy’s Romana Historia, Avreliæ Allobrogvm, 1609 ([Fig. 15]). In this instance the Prince of Wales’ feathers form the central design, impressed in silver and gold, and with the initials H. P. at the sides of it, all enclosed in a border composed of a dotted ribbon arranged in right angles and segments of circles, enriched at the corners with ornamental arabesques. This design is particularly pleasing, and it is likely that it was executed by the same binder who bound the edition of Thevet’s Vies des hommes illustres, described above, for James I., the peculiar design of the dotted ribbon appearing in both instances.
Petrus de Crescentiis, De omnibus agriculturæ partibus, Basileæ, 1548, has the Prince of Wales’ feathers in silver, with H. P. at the sides, and on two upright labels the words “O et presidium | Dulce decus meum.” It has very heavy corner-stamps.
A little book of Commentaries of Messer. Blaise de Monluc, Bordeaux, 1592, has a small Prince of Wales’ feathers in the centre, and very pretty angle-stamps of sprays of foliage, the feathers still being in silver. Rivault, Les Clemens d’ Artillery, Paris, 1608, is remarkably pretty. It is a small book bound in olive morocco, and has a tiny Prince of Wales’ feathers in an oval in the centre, stamped in gold and silver, within a broad border of sprays of foliage. There are large angle-pieces of the same sprays, all enclosed in a border stamped in gold. A common design is the coat-of-arms, with label within an ornamental border, ensigned with a prince’s crown, enclosed in a single line rectangle, at the corners of which are small stamps of the Prince of Wales’ feathers, crowned roses, crowned fleurs-de-lis, and crowned thistles. There are several examples of this design, both in the British Museum and at Windsor.
Fig. 15.—Livius. Romana Historia.
Avreliæ Allobrogvm, 1609. Henry, Prince of Wales.
Pandulphi Collenucii Pisaurensis Apologus cui titulus Agenoria and other tracts in one collection was dedicated to Henry VIII., and originally his property ([Fig. 16]). It afterwards belonged to Magdalen College, Oxford, and they presented it to Prince Henry, for whom it was enclosed in a magnificent cover of crimson velvet, thickly embroidered with an elaborate design in gold and pearls. The edges of the cover project freely beyond the boards of the book, and have a rich gold fringe. The Prince of Wales’ feathers, thickly worked in pearls, forms the centre of the design. The coronet is of gold, and the motto is in gold letters on a blue silk ground. The very beautiful broad border contains a rich arabesque design with flowers thickly worked in seed pearls, and the inner angles have sprays in gold and pearls. There are innumerable single pearls dotted about. Both for beauty of design and richness of execution, this cover is certainly one of the finest specimens of late embroidery work in England. With the exception of a few pearls missing, and some gold braid about the motto, it may be considered to be in a very fair condition.
Another crimson velvet book, Becano Baculus Salcolbrigiensis, Oppenheim, 1611, was bound for Prince Henry. It has the Prince of Wales’ feathers in the centre, impressed in gold and silver, with a simple gold line round the edge. It is much faded, and the velvet is now more orange than crimson, but it is interesting as being the only instance in the British Museum of a stamped velvet book done for Prince Henry.
Prince Charles used two of the stamps which were first used by his brother Henry—the large coat-of-arms, with silver label, and the Prince of Wales’ feathers. Each of these is usually flanked by the letters C. P., and the Prince of Wales’ feathers are always stamped in gold instead of silver. In cases where Charles has used the coat-of-arms, the corners are filled with a full arrangement of leaf sprays and arabesques. A fine example of this style, bound in olive morocco, occurs on a binding of Dallington’s Aphorismes, Civill and Militarie, London, 1613, now in the British Museum. An example of the Prince of Wales’ feathers used alone on dark blue morocco is in the library at Windsor. During the reign of Charles I. several small, thin books were bound in vellum, stamped in gold (Plate VII.). Some of them were done for him both as prince and as king. A very good example covers a collection of Almanacks, dated 1624. In the centre is an ornament composed of four Prince of Wales’ feathers arranged as a star, the corners are filled with large stamps, the remainder of the boards are filled with semées of flaming hearts. This particular book was probably a favourite one of the Prince’s, as it contains his signature and other writings.