In the early sixteenth century in England, heraldry was an important science, and began to show itself as a fertile source of ornamentation of bindings. Many of the panel stamps of the early Tudor period are heraldic. The most interesting of these stamps is one which is found in combination with several others; it seems to be a sort of backbone. The design consists of a large Tudor rose, partly enclosed by ribbon on which is the legend HEC ROSA VIRTUTIS DE CŒLO MISSA SERENO ETERNUM FLORENS REGIA SCEPTRA FERET.
At the side are two angels and in the corners the arms of London and the Cross of St. George.
Then there are numbers of other stamps bearing in the centre the coat-of-arms of Henry VII. and Henry VIII. up to 1526, namely, France and England quarterly, with supporters, the red dragon of Cadwallader and the white greyhound of De Beaufort.
Belonging to the same school of design are fine panel stamps bearing the armorial devices of Anne Boleyn and Queen Katharine Parr.
Fig. 92.—English sixteenth century panel stamp, with the initials of Julian Notary.
Fig. 93.—English blind stamped binding, with the arms of Queen Katherine of Arragon.
The question as to whether these stamps are royal or not inevitably occurs to any student, but as with one or two exceptions they carry with them extraneous ornament, such as the sun and moon, and arms of London, I think that any such stamp cannot have been royal, but it is possible enough that when the royal arms alone are found the stamp may have been originally cut for royalty. Such stamps as these are very strong and are not likely to have ever been worn out—indeed, it is curious that instances of unauthorised use of royal stamps is not commoner than it is.