Bound in rich brown calf, and ornamented with gold-tooling, black fillets, and some blind lines. In the centre is the royal coat of arms of Edward VI., very effectively outlined with arabesques, crowned, and flanked by the letters E R. Above and below the coat is a double rose and two five-pointed stars.
The royal shield is contained within two interlaced fillets, outlined in gold and stained black; the inner is in the shape of an upright diamond; the outer is turned and curved upon itself so as to make a double border. The spaces left between these various curves and lines are filled with gold ornaments, the most noticeable of which is a large stamp of a cornucopia. The other small stamps are arabesques and five-pointed stars. The outer corners are marked by a gilt fleuron, and on the front edge of each board are the remains of two ties. The back probably had double roses stamped in gold between each of the bands, but the book, which is, with this exception, in excellent condition, has recently been restored here with new stamps cut after the old pattern.
1547 (?). In the Advocates’ Library at Edinburgh is a fine specimen of Berthelet’s work in binding. It was bound for Edward VI. in calf, and bears in the centre his coat of arms flanked by the initials E R, and above and below the coat, on each side, is a long rectangular panel with a kind of handle at each end, like those found afterwards on the horn-books. The legends on the panels read, on the upper cover, “An idle or deceitful hande maketh pore | But a diligent Labourynge hand maketh ryche. Proverb. 10”; and on the under cover, “No man lyghteth a candle and putteth it | in a privie place—neither under a bushell. Luke II.” In the panels of the back are, alternately, a small upright lion and a fleur-de-lys.
1548. Among the books bound by Berthelet for King Edward VI. is a small copy of Ptolemy’s Geografia, printed at Venice in 1548. It is simply bound in calf, with a plain gilt line along the edges of the boards, and the words, “Omnis potestas a Deo,” in a cartouche in the middle of the side. As far as the binding goes, this volume is one of Berthelet’s simplest, and I should not, for that reason, have noticed it here; but the book is remarkable because of the way he has painted the edges. These are pale blue, and are ornamented with heraldic designs on shields. On the upper edge is
PLATE XVII.
CALF BINDING OF QUEEN MARY’S PRAYER BOOK. MS. ON VELLUM. BOUND FOR THE QUEEN.
the coat of arms of France, on the front edge that of England, and on the lower that of Ireland. These shields are flanked by the initials of the king, and the rest of the space is filled with a very prettily arranged interlaced strap-work in black, in and out of which wind delicate, graceful curves and flowers painted in gold.