Fig. 111.—English Jacobean corner stamp.
Following the lead given by some of the later Elizabethan bindings, we find from about 1603 to 1625 a considerable output of very showy bindings, with elaborate semis or powderings of small stamps all over the groundwork, very large and over-elaborated corner stamps and centres of arabesque or heraldic motives.
Students of English royal bindings must note that with the coming of James I. to the English throne, a great change was made in the English coat-of-arms. The coat which had been used from the time of Edward III., namely, France and England quarterly, was now used as a quartering only, and shows in the first and fourth quarters. In the second quarter we find the ancient coat of Scotland, or, a lion rampant within a double tressure flory counterflory gu., and in the third quarter comes the coat of Ireland, az., the harp of Apollo Grian, stringed ar, or., given, it is supposed, by Henry VIII. as a mark of admiration for the musical excellence of the Irish.
Fig. 112.—English gold-tooled binding made for James I.
Also the late Tudor supporters of the lion and dragon give place to the familiar lion and unicorn. The unicorn is one of the ancient supporters of the Scottish coat. It is interesting to note in passing that the present official coat of Scotland is, first and fourth Scotland, second England, and third Ireland, with two unicorns as supporters. It appears on Scottish official bindings. The interpretation of this is of course that England and Ireland are appanages of Scotland.
But even if it is now correct to dissociate the arms of England and Scotland, we must not forget the heraldic marriage between the two countries which took place in 1706, on which auspicious occasion the two coats were impaled as one. That is to say, they were treated in the same way as the coats of married people.
The semis, with large corners, is a manner which has lasted a long time, but it is not a great style; it is, however, one which has been largely followed in the case of trade bindings. In this manner a very rich and brilliant effect can be produced with a minimum of real design and of technical skill. The centres of such bindings, if not simply coats-of-arms, are always of oval outline, but at Little Gidding the irregular Jacobean corners and oval centres turned into circular centres and quarter-circle corners. The gold tooled leather bindings made at Little Gidding followed closely in detail those made by Thomas and John Buck, the Cambridge University printers, but in the main the bindings made by Mary Collet and her assistants were original. In the matter of semis also the Little Gidding bindings show a pleasant departure from the quite regular arrangements aimed at by Jacobean binders.
