1548. Bude. Commentarii linguae Graecae, etc. Parisiis, 1548. 13-3/4 by 9.
Bound in brown calf, and ornamented with gold-tooling and some blind lines. In the centre the royal coat of arms of Edward VI., crowned, is flanked by the letters E R, above and below each of which is a small five-petalled flower. The coat is enclosed between two interlaced squares, outlined in gold and stained black. At each of the four corners of the horizontal square is a floral arabesque in gold, with a spray of pear.
The centre design is enclosed at a considerable distance by a broad black fillet, outlined in gold, parallel to the edges of the board, mitred in gold at the corners, and decorated alternately at short intervals along its length with scrolls and small five-petalled flowers stamped in gold. The inner angles of the fillet are marked by a gold double rose, and the outer angles by an elaborate fleuron in outline.
1550. Andreasius. De amplitudine misericordiae Dei, etc. Basileae, 1550; measures 6 by 4 inches. It is bound in rich brown calf, the royal coat of arms of Edward VI. being placed in the centre, flanked by the letters E R. Parallel with the edges of the boards are lines in gold and blind, with small fleurs-de-lys in gold at the four inner corners and arabesque fleurons at the outer corners. Although this little book is very simple, it is nevertheless very charming, the beautiful brown colour of the calf being well brought out by the bright gold lines and the dark blind lines.
1552. Bembo. Historiae Venetae. Lib. XII. Venetiis, 1551; measures 12 by 9 inches. It is bound in brown calf, and ornamented with gold-tooling, blind lines, and black fillets. In the centre is the royal coat of arms of Edward VI., to whom the book belonged, enclosed in a very cleverly interwoven fillet outlined in gold and stained black. This fillet is so arranged in straight and curved pieces as to give the general effect of being arranged in eight circles and eight semicircles. The coat of arms, ensigned with the royal crown, is outlined by arabesques and surrounded by ten small stars, six of which are within a single curved-line border having fleurons and daisies at its four extremities, and four without it, beyond which comes the inner broken line of the fillet, spreading out at the top into a large circle, within which are the words, “DIEV ET MON DROYT,” and below into another circle, also large, bearing the date MDLII. Flanking the coat of arms are two small circles, within which are the crowned initials E R. The fillet now takes a rectangular form, and extends upwards and downwards from these small circles, while the irregular corner spaces left between this rectangle and the outer edges of the inner line of the fillet are each ornamented with one handsome reversed arabesque, with fleuron, two stars, and a double daisy. Four large circles of equal size to that enclosing the royal motto are arranged over the right-angled corners of the mitred parallelogram which is part of the fillet, and the spaces within these circles are each filled with an ornament made up of a graceful reversed arabesque, with a fleuron and three small flowers. Where the fillet becomes the outer border of the design it is rectangular in form, broken by semicircular indentations in the centre of each of the four sides; in these hollows are arabesques and double daisies. The remaining spaces just within the outer border are filled, top and bottom, with short lines of the cornucopia stamp, with double daisies and stars, and at each side by an impression of a handsome arabesque curve with one small flower. At each of the outer corners is a double daisy. As a book this is a curious specimen, the back being arranged and gilded so as to resemble the front, and unless the volume is carefully examined it appears to have no back at all. This is the earliest instance of this peculiarity known to me, but I have met with a few similar cases of later date and in Italian work. It has nothing to recommend it, and is useless and ugly as well as being constructively vicious. It is interesting to note that Berthelet here reverts, perhaps unknowingly, to the old English appreciation of the decorative use of the circle. This is probably, in all details, the finest binding he ever made.
1552. Joannes a Lasco. Brevis de Sacramentis Ecclesiae Christi Tractatio, etc. London, 1552; measures 5½ by 3½ inches, and is bound in cream-coloured deer or doe skin and tooled in gold. There are two holes for tie-ribbons near the front edge of each board.
The decoration consists of a central rectangular panel closely filled with solid arabesques symmetrically arranged. The panel is enclosed in a double border, the inner division of which has an arabesque filling and small fleurons at each angle; the outer is ornamented with repetitions of a circular stamp intersected by arabesque forms of a pattern very commonly found on Berthelet’s work, and closely copied from an Italian original; at each of the angles is a large fleuron. The narrow space between the edge of the boards and the outer border is ornamented with scattered impressions of a small crescent and a diamond.
Each of the panels of the back contains a single impression from a small four-petalled flower stamp. The edges of the leaves are gilded, and upon them is a wavy spray of vine, with leaves and grape clusters, impressed by means of a small ring stamp.