1538. Berthelet’s “leather” curves turned into gold cord may be clearly seen on the red satin binding of a collection of sixteenth-century tracts bound probably about 1538. This curious volume is, as far as can be ascertained at present, the earliest English book bound in satin. It is very probably Berthelet’s work,—indeed, it may actually be one referred to in the Letters and Papers of Henry VIII., Vol. 13, Part 2, p. 539, concerning which we are told that the king paid 6s. 8d. to “Bartlett the king’s printer’s servant that brought a book covered with crimosin saten embrodered.” It measures 12 by 8 inches, and has been stupidly rebacked with leather, but is otherwise in good condition. There is an arabesque border parallel with the edges of the boards, made full at each of the four corners, and amplified across the centre into a kind of ornamental bridge. Not only are the curves and scrolls strongly suggestive of Berthelet’s designs, but on the cream-coloured edges of the book are the words, “REX IN AETERNVM VIVE NEZ,” which, as has already been remarked, may of itself be taken as an almost sure sign of Berthelet’s work. Many of the scrolls are very similar to those which are used on a velvet binding described under the date 1543, which I think was also bound by Berthelet.
1540 (?). Jul. Claud Iguini oratio ad Hen. VIII. MS. This is bound in dark brown calf, and is ornamented very simply with gold-tooling and blind lines. In the centre is a well-designed stamp of the royal coat of arms, ensigned by a very large crown, and encircled by a garter with buckle, and bearing the motto, “Honi soit qui mal y pense.” This design is enclosed between four Greek words, ΗΑΙΟΣ ΠΑΝΤΑΣ ΑΛΑΙΕΝΟΝ ΕΞΑΡΚΤΟΤ, the signification of which is not clear. A simple rectangular border in gold, made up of successive impressions of one of Berthelet’s happily designed curves, completes a design which, although plain, is yet very charming.
1540. There is a fine specimen of one of Berthelet’s bindings in white doeskin in the library of Trinity College, Oxford. It measures about 9 by 6 inches, and is a copy of “Theophylacti in omnes divi Pauli epistolas enarrationes, etc. Basileae, 1540.” The sides are fully gilt, and ornamented with scroll-work and royal badges. In the centre is the crowned royal coat of arms of Henry VIII., surrounded by four chief decorative points, bearing, respectively, the royal initials, crowned, and crowned badges, double rose, fleur-de-lys, and portcullis. Each of these small designs is contained within a framework of golden scrolls, and the remaining space is rather closely filled with a rich tracery of scrolls and arabesques symmetrically arranged. The broad edges are cream coloured, and on them in large capitals are the words, “REX IN ETERNUM VIVE.”
PLATE XV.
WHITE LEATHER BINDING OF “JOANNES A LASCO. BREVIS DE SACRAMENTIS ECC. CHRISTI TRACTATIO. LONDON 1552.”
See page [88.]
1541. Elyot. The Image of Governance. T. Berthelet, London, 1541. Bound in white deerskin, and tooled in gold with a few blind lines. In the centre is an irregular panel made up with curves and arabesques, within which are the words, “DIEU ET MON DROIT.” The panel is enclosed within an outer line of cleverly arranged scrolls, at the sides of which are the letters H R. An outer rectangular border of small S-shaped stamps, with fleurons at the outer corners, encloses the whole, the inner corners being filled with more scroll-work and arabesques. The ground is dotted with stamps of a daisy, a small circle stamp, and a five-pointed star.