Another English binder of note, James Edwards of Halifax, also flourished in the reign of George III. This binder has not, I think, received sufficient appreciation, as he discovered an entirely new way of treating vellum by which it was rendered transparent. He painted designs on the under side of the vellum and bound his books with it, the result being that, if the vellum is clean on the outside, the protected painting underneath it is as fresh as when it was first done. A fine example of this curious work is on a copy of a Prayer Book, printed at Cambridge, 1760, which belonged to Charlotte of Mecklenburg, queen of George III. ([Fig. 26]). Her arms, in proper heraldic colours, are in the centre of the upper cover, enclosed by a blue and gold border of Etruscan design. At the lower edge is a miniature of a ruin in monotone, and at each side of the coat and above it are ornamental scrolls, with conventional flowers, birds, animals, and figures. On the lower cover is a central oval, with an allegorical figure in monotone, enclosed in a similar border to that on the upper cover, at each side of which are flowering trees in urns, birds, etc., and in each panel of the back is also a decorative design. Altogether this is the prettiest royal binding done at this period. It has the crowned initials “C. R.” painted in silver inside the upper cover, and on the front edge, in an oval, is a painting of the Resurrection under the gold. Between this and the edges, painted for James II., there were no books adorned in this way for royal owners.
Fig. 27.—Portfolio containing the Royal Letter
concerning the King’s Library. George IV.
The bindings done for George IV., at Windsor, are generally bound in red morocco, with heraldic centres and broad borders, sometimes inlaid with coloured leathers. The borders are sometimes like those used by Eliot and Chapman, and sometimes conventional patterns. A good example in the British Museum is on the cover of the letter written to Lord Liverpool by the king in 1823, concerning the gift of his father’s library to the nation. A copy of the Book of Common Prayer, which belonged to William IV., and is now at Windsor, is bound in blue morocco. It bears in the centre the star of the Order of the Garter, within a crowned Garter, dependent from which is an anchor, and at the sides “G. R. III.” There are anchors in the corners, and a decorative outer border. The generality of the books belonging to him have the usual heraldic centres, within borders designed in more or less good taste. The king presented to the British Museum, and signed with his own name, an Inventory of the Crown Plate, 1832. It is bound by William Clark, and bears in the centre the full royal coat-of-arms, and has a handsome rectangular border of triple gold lines, broken at each side by bold arabesque ornaments.
EPILOGUE
In the foregoing detailed descriptions I have included only the work of English binders. There are, however, many books existing that have been bound for English royal personages abroad. Instances of these occur notably for Henry VIII., Elizabeth, James I., Henrietta Maria, Henrietta Anna, Charles II., the Chevalier St. George, and Cardinal York. It will be noticed that generally the ornamentation of English royal books is heraldic, and that crowned initials are constantly used from the time of Henry VIII. to William IV. To understand the royal coat-of-arms of England it is necessary, at all events, to note the larger rearrangements of the various quarterings, which on the Tudor bindings were simply France and England, quarterly. The two great changes took place on the accession of the Stuart line, when the coats of Scotland and England were introduced; and on the accession of the Hanoverian line, when the family coat of the Guelphs was introduced. There are several minor alterations and additions, but these I have mentioned as they have occurred, and the only other important change to remember is concerning the supporters. From the time of Henry VII. until 1528 these were a dragon and a greyhound, and from that time until Elizabeth they were a lion and a dragon. Since the time of James I. they have been a lion and unicorn. Badges are constantly found on Tudor and early Stuart bindings. They are the well-known ones of Tudor origin—the double rose, portcullis, pomegranate, fleur-de-lis, and falcon. The fleur-de-lis remains longest of these. The Prince of Wales’ feathers is commonly found on books from the time of Edward VI.
The styles of bindings used by these great royal houses have also characteristics common to each of them. The bindings of the Tudor period are most diversified in styles, and the majority of the leather books are either bound by Thomas Berthelet, royal binder to Henry VIII., and his successors, or in his style. Under Elizabeth, the Italian fashion of double boards, the upper of which is pierced, was used for very choice work. Berthelet took his inspiration originally from Italian models, but shortly developed a style of his own. Vellum was much used in connection with gold stamped work, the first use of which in England is credited to this binder.