Fig. 19.—A short View of the late Troubles
in England, etc. Oxford, 1681. Charles II.
A copy of the Book of Common Prayer, printed in London, 1669, is covered in red morocco, and bears upon each board a modification of the roofed pattern, stained black, and broken by curves at the upper and lower points and at the sides. In the centre, the crowned C’s are enclosed in a small inner fillet, coloured black, and supplemented with very delicate arabesque stamped work in gold. The inner angles of the roof and sides are filled with scale patterns in dots. Above and below the centre-piece are bold leaf sprays. The corners and spaces throughout are filled with very close gold stamped arabesques, circles, and small flowers. It has an elaborate outer border of an enlarged scaled pattern filled with small stamps. The book is a very beautiful one, and is, in some ways, the finest specimen of Mearne’s work existing. It has frequently been figured. Under the gilding on the front edges is a painting, having as its centre motive the design of the crowned C’s and the laurel branches already mentioned. This method of painting under the gold, which appears to have been first done by an artist of the name of Fletcher, is frequently found on Mearne’s bindings. The custom dropped into disuse after his time, until it was revived by Edwards of Halifax about a hundred years later.
A copy of the Scottish Laws and Acts of James I., Edinburgh, 1661, is covered in red morocco. It has in the centre a large irregular panel, inlaid in black morocco, bearing the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, within the Garter, and the initials C. II. R., the rest of the black panel being thickly gilded with ornamental sprays. There are large angle-pieces of yellow leather, richly stamped, and at the sides, upper, and lower edges of each board are urns carrying large branching sprays, with flowers inlaid in yellow and black leathers.
A short View of the late Troubles in England, Oxford, 1681 ([Fig. 19]), is bound in red morocco, and ornamented all over the boards with small, irregular panels, outlined by broad gold lines, and filled with mosaics of black and yellow leather, all ornamented thickly with small gold stamp-work. In the centre, on a black panel, are large ornamental initials, “C. R.,” crowned. Although this binding has many points in common with Samuel Mearne’s work, it is lacking in finish, and it is probably the work of his son Charles, who afterwards succeeded him as royal binder. A copy of Fox’s Book of Martyrs, London, 1641, also bound in Mearne’s fashion, bears upon its front edges, under the gilding, a portrait of the king in his coronation robes. It is figured in Bibliographica, part viii., and is signed “Fletcher.”
Fig. 20.—Bible. Cambridge, 1674. James II.
There are in the British Museum two large volumes of an English Atlas, measuring 23 × 15 inches. The first of them bears the large ornamental initials C. R. crowned. It has a modification of the cottage design, arranged in an interlacing fillet of yellow leather, within which is a symmetrical arrangement of irregular panels, inlaid with black and yellow morocco, all richly edged and filled in with small gold stamped work, picked out with silver. The second volume is ornamented in a similar manner with inlays, but has not the outer border or the initials.
Although there are many of Mearne’s bindings to be found in the large private libraries throughout England, probably the finest is that which belongs to the Earl of Crewe, at Crewe Hall. It covers a folio Book of Common Prayer, 1662, and bears the cottage design, outlined in yellow leather, with scale pattern. There are fine mosaics of red, yellow, and green leathers in the corners of the inner panel, covered with close gold stamp-work and floral sprays. The crowned C’s are in the centre within an ornamental border, and outside the yellow panel are red and green mosaics, thickly covered with small gold work.