Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    From $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Royal English Bookbindings
    Royal English Bookbindings
    Royal English Bookbindings
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    Royal English Bookbindings

    By Cyril Davenport

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    "Royal English Bookbindings" by Cyril Davenport. Published by Good Press. Good Press publishes a wide range of titles that encompasses every genre. From well-known classics & literary fiction and non-fiction to forgotten−or yet undiscovered gems−of world literature, we issue the books that need to be read. Each Good Press edition has been meticulously edited and formatted to boost readability for all e-readers and devices. Our goal is to produce eBooks that are user-friendly and accessible to everyone in a high-quality digital format.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherGood Press
    Release dateDec 10, 2019
    ISBN4064066219512
    Royal English Bookbindings

    Read more from Cyril Davenport

    Related to Royal English Bookbindings

    Related ebooks

    History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • UNLIMITED

      How To Make Your Own Accordion Book

      Oct 1, 2020

      How To Make Your Own Accordion Book
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Absolutely Marble-ous

      May 13, 2020

      Absolutely Marble-ous
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Out There

      Mar 18, 2020

      Out There
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Art of Bookbinding

      Apr 22, 2021

      With a cup of pu’er tea and a burning sandalwood incense stick on the desk, Zhang Xiaodong begins a day’s work at his studio in Yizhuang in the southeastern suburb of Beijing. Zhang is the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage known as Dragon

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Jo Avery

      Feb 19, 2020

      Jo Avery
      7 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Feed Sacks

      Jan 23, 2020

      Feed Sacks
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Inspired By…

      Oct 28, 2021

      Inspired By…
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Hooked!

      Nov 16, 2020

      Hooked!
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Old Habits Dye Hard

      May 26, 2021

      Old Habits Dye Hard
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      My Style

      Mar 16, 2022

      My Style
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Embroidery

      Feb 27, 2020

      Embroidery
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Joining the Links

      Jul 30, 2021

      Joining the Links
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      In No Small measure

      Feb 19, 2022

      In No Small measure
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The RESTORERS

      Feb 27, 2020

      The RESTORERS
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Life In Miniature

      Jul 7, 2022

      Life In Miniature
      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Sunshine & LOLLIPOPS

      Dec 6, 2023

      Sunshine & LOLLIPOPS
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Tidy-up Time!

      Jun 20, 2019

      Tidy-up Time!
      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Birds & Blooms

      Apr 5, 2022

      Birds & Blooms
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Embroidered BOTANICALS

      Mar 27, 2020

      Embroidered BOTANICALS
      1 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Hockney: The Early Years

      Oct 27, 2023

      Hockney: The Early Years
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Jules Vissers taftique

      Jun 20, 2023

      Jules Vissers taftique
      5 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Fiona’s Focus On… BLACKWORK

      Jun 12, 2020

      Sometimes called Spanish blackwork, it’s commonly believed to have originated during the Tudor period in England when Catherine of Aragon brought the style with her from Spain. However, mentions of black embroidery can be found in literature before t

      2 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Art of Art Journaling

      May 28, 2017

      Materials: Journal – Strathmore watercolour paper Embellishments – Jo Sonja’s and Kaisercraft paints, Darkroom Door and Kaisercraft stamps, Creative Dies stamp and die, Sharpie paint pen, Ranger Archival ink, scrap papers, Paper Shapers, punches, pen

      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Nice Weaves

      May 25, 2020

      Nice Weaves
      3 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      New Light On The Dark Ages

      Jun 9, 2022

      New Light On The Dark Ages
      8 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Treasure Island

      Jul 6, 2018

      Treasure Island
      6 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      Wearing The Years Well

      Nov 11, 2020

      ON October 7, I wrote here of a fragment of a mid-18th-century waistcoat that had a plausible claim to have been worn by the Young Pretender in Edinburgh in 1745. This week, we have a letter certainly written by him, 2½ years earlier, when he was see

      4 min read

    • UNLIMITED

      The Writhen-hilted Sword

      Jul 14, 2021

      The Writhen-hilted Sword
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Royal English Bookbindings

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Royal English Bookbindings - Cyril Davenport

      Cyril Davenport

      Royal English Bookbindings

      Published by Good Press, 2022

      [email protected]

      EAN 4064066219512

      Table of Contents

      CHAPTER I

      CHAPTER II

      CHAPTER III

      CHAPTER IV

      EPILOGUE

      LIST OF MOST IMPORTANT WORKS CONSULTED

      CHAPTER I

      Table of Contents

      HENRY I.—EDWARD VI.—HENRY VII.—HENRY VIII.—KATHARINE OF ARRAGON—ANNE BOLEYN—MARGARET TUDOR—MARY TUDOR—KATHARINE PARR

      The rulers of England and of France have, ever since the introduction of printing into Europe, been great patrons of books, and moreover have by their individual tastes, both literary and artistic, largely influenced the styles of bookbinding prevalent during their reigns.

      In England from the time of Henry VII. onwards, and in France from Louis XII., a noble series of royal bookbindings exists at the present time, and may be considered with justice to be typical of the best work done at the different periods. Although there are a few great binders who do not appear, as far as is at present known, to have worked for royalty, there is no doubt that most of the great masters of this most fascinating art were at some time or other privileged to work for the sovereign houses of their time, if indeed they were not actually royal binders.

      Before printing was introduced into England in the fifteenth century by William Caxton, there is little or no record of any special collection of books made by any English sovereign. It is possible no such collection ever was made, but if it were, all trace and record of it is now lost. Rich mediæval bindings of a decorative character, such as are not uncommon in other countries, are unknown in England, and it is supposed that, for the sake of the valuable metal and gems which were commonly used on such bindings, they were destroyed under the early Tudor kings. At the same time, it seems unlikely that Henry VIII. or Edward VI. would have pulled to pieces any fine bindings, if they had already formed part of a royal library.

      It is difficult in the case of antiquities, the full record of which is not forthcoming, to be sure of statements which may be made concerning them; but so many antiquaries and men of mark have already borne testimony at all events to the probable truth of the legend that the coronation book of Henry I. still exists, that I feel any record of English royal bookbindings would be imperfect, not only without mention of it, but even without a detailed description. I think, however, that without exception every other book I shall describe or mention has upon it, or in it, some absolute mark of royal ownership, but on the other hand they are all much later. Indeed, as far as I know, no book of the twelfth century has any mark of ownership upon it, although the makers’ name does rarely occur.

      The book in question (Plate I.) is quite small, measuring 7 × 4½ inches. It is a manuscript on vellum of lessons from the four gospels in Latin, written in the twelfth century; it also contains the whole of the Gospel of St. John except a small portion missing, and some other MSS. The binding is of thick wooden boards, covered probably with deer-skin. The lower cover has a sunk panel, and bears a crucified figure of our Lord cast in bronze, finely chased and formerly gilt. The corners are guarded with bossed pieces of brass, stamped with a device of a fleur-de-lis within a circle, and there is a clasp of leather and brass. The figure of our Lord appears distinctly old, but the rest of the metal work has not such evidence of antiquity, and it seems likely that it is much more recent. Inside the book are several manuscript notes by various owners, the most interesting of which is signed by John Ives, at Yarmouth, St. Luke’s Day, 1772. He says this appears to be the original book on which our Kings and Queens took their coronation oaths before the Reformation. In Powell’s Repertoire of Records, 1631, at p. 123, he mentions a little booke with a crucifix as being preserved in the chest of the King’s Remembrancer at the Exchequer.

      Mr. Thomas Martin of Palgrave, owner of the book in the beginning of the eighteenth century, at one time lent it to Mr. Thomas Madox, author of the History of the Exchequer, and his opinion was that it was the book formerly belonging to the Exchequer, mentioned by Powell, and which was used to take the coronation oath upon by all our kings and queens till Henry VIII.

      It belonged afterwards to Mr. Thomas Astle, F.S.A., Keeper of the Records in the Tower of London, who died in 1803, and whose library was purchased by the Marquis of Buckingham and kept at Stowe in a beautiful Gothic room specially built for it. In June 1849 the library became the property of Lord Ashburnham, and from him it was purchased in 1883 by the Trustees of the British Museum, excepting the Irish MSS., which went to Dublin. This collection is now known as the Stowe Collection.

      There is a drawing of this book by Mr. George Vertue, presented by him to the Society of Antiquaries and still preserved in their library.

      From the time of Henry I. until that of Edward IV. there is no trace of any English royal bindings, and then only a small one. There is in the library of Westminster Abbey a loose leather binding impressed with a panel-stamp of the arms of Edward IV., crowned and supported by the two white lions of the Earls of March, and, moreover, at the top the two angels which are afterwards often found on the larger panel-stamps of a similar kind used in the time of Henry VIII. No other binding exists apparently that belonged to Edward IV., even if this one did, but in the wardrobe accounts of his reign are found several notices of binding. One reads, for binding, gilding, and dressing of books, but does not say what the material is. It was probably leather, calf or goat, as gilding on velvet does not seem to have then been thought of, although the material itself was certainly used, as in another place it is stated that velvet vj yerdes cremysy figured were delivered for the covering of the books of our lord the king; and indeed it is curious if the gilding was applied even to leather, as certainly no instances are known at so early a date of English origin.

      Actual instances of the use of velvet for bookbinding occur first among the books of Henry VII. and Henry VIII., and the value, beauty, and wonderful durability of it are likely enough to have attracted the notice of royal and learned book lovers.

      Henry VII. was the first of our kings whose literary tastes have left any mark on our existing collections. He acquired a magnificent series of volumes printed on vellum at Paris by Antoine Verard, a celebrated French printer, besides other valuable books. This collection is now at the British Museum almost complete, and it is rebound in

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1