large Bible printed at Zurich in 1543, but there does not appear very clearly any mark by which it can be identified as his work. It is now of a tawny colour, but was originally probably crimson, and on it is outlined an elaborate design in gold cord. A broad outer border has an arabesque pattern arranged diamond-wise, with large double roses at each corner. Within this is a smaller rectangular border, enclosing a circle with the king’s initials bound together by a scroll, and above and below the circle a repeating arabesque design. On the edges of this book are very elaborate heraldic paintings.

A different kind of work altogether covers the splendid Description de toute la terre Sainte, by Martin de Brion (Fig. 3), a beautiful manuscript on vellum dedicated to Henry VIII., and full of illuminated reference to him and his heraldic attributes.

It is bound in purple velvet and richly embroidered, and is the first of a splendid series of embroidered books on velvet executed in England. The design is simple, but it is carried out with such skill and taste that it is altogether most effective. In the centre is the royal coat-of-arms, the coats of France and England quarterly, as borne by our sovereigns from Richard II. to Elizabeth, Edward III., who first used the French coat, having originally borne it semée de fleurs-de-lis, but the number of these having been reduced to three by Charles VI. of France, a corresponding change was made in the English coat by his son-in-law Richard.

Fig. 2.—Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiæ Potestatis
et Ecclesiasticæ. Londini, 1534. Henry VIII.

The bearings on these coats are worked in gold thread on a couched groundwork of silk of the proper colours. The coat is ensigned by a large royal crown worked in gold thread, freely adorned with pearls on the arches, the crosses, and the fleurs-de-lis, as also on the rim, which is further ornamented with “jewels” of coloured silks. The blue Garter, with its motto in gold, and the spaces between the words marked by small red roses, surrounds the coat. The king’s initial H.’s, originally worked in seed pearls, but now only showing the threads, flank the central design, and the corners are filled with raised Lancastrian roses of red silk, appliqués, and finished with gold.

There is still another kind of binding used for one of the volumes in the British Museum that was made for Henry VIII., and that is of gold. It is a tiny copy of a metrical version of the penitential and other Psalms in English by John Cheke, Clerk in Chancery, written on vellum early in the sixteenth century (Plate II.) It has at the beginning a miniature portrait of Henry VIII., and is bound in gold, worked in open-leaf tracery, with remains of black enamel on many of the leaves and on the border surrounding them. The panels of the back have each a small pattern cut into the metal, and filled with a black enamel. At the top of each cover is a small ring so that the volume could be attached to the girdle. It is said to have been given by Queen Anne Boleyn when on the scaffold to one of her maids of honour, and it now forms part of the Stowe Collection at the British Museum.

Penitential Psalms, etc., MS., sixteenth century. Gold Binding. Henry VIII.

Novum Testamentum Græce. Lutetiæ, 1550. Gold centres. Queen Elizabeth.

A book curiously decorated and bound in calf for Henry VIII. is a Bible printed at Antwerp in 1534, and in two volumes. These are large books measuring 14½ × 9 inches, and both of them have been restored at the outer edges. The inner panel, rectangular with large corners, encloses on each side sentences in French, above and below which are crowned double roses and the initials H. A., probably standing for “Henry” and “Anna.” The sentence reads on one side, “Ainsi que tous meurent par Adam,” and on the other, “Aussy tous seront vivifies par Christ.” The borders and corners are very rich and decorative, and it is likely that the outer ornamentation, although it is actually modern, has been carefully copied from the original.

A handsome binding in dark brown calf covers an “old royal” manuscript, Jul. Claud Iguini oratio ad Hen. VIII., written probably about 1540. It has blind and gold lines, and the design is an outer border with an arabesque pattern stamped in gold, enclosing the royal coat-of-arms, crowned, and enclosed within a Garter. Round this again are four Greek words, “ΠΛΙΟΣ ΠΑΝΤΑΣ ΑΛΙΕΝΩΝ ΕΞΑΡΚΤΟΝ,” the meaning of which is not clear. On the coat-of-arms it is notable that the three lions of England are crowned. This peculiarity occurs sometimes in other books, but I believe heraldically the lions should not be crowned, and this book is the earliest instance I have met with in which they are so shown.

Fig. 3.—Description of the Holy Land, in French.
By Martin Brion. MS. Henry VIII.

Galteri Deloeni Libellus de tribus Hierarchiis, a manuscript dedicated to Henry and probably bound by Thomas Berthelet, is one of his most decorative bindings on a small book (Plate III.) The design is simple, a rectangle and a diamond fillet interlaced, enclosing the royal coat-of-arms crowned. In the two lower spaces below the shield are the crucifixion and the serpent in the wilderness with their corresponding texts, and the rest of the spaces are very fully filled with small stamps of arabesques, double roses, single and double daisies, stars, and leaves. The execution of the actual gilding is coarse, and the finish generally is not as perfect as it might be, but the general effect is excellent.

One of the most interesting bindings of any that were made for Henry VIII. is that which was, or is supposed to have been, worked for him by his daughter Elizabeth. It is part of the old royal library in the British Museum, and is written on vellum in the Princess’s own most careful and precise handwriting. It is a collection of prayers composed by Queen Katharine Parr, and translated by Elizabeth into Latin, French, and Italian, and dated “Hereford, December 20, 1545.” The dedication is, “Illustrissimo Henrico octavo, Anglie, Francie, Hiberniæq. regi, fidei defensori.” The volume is quite small, 5¾ inches by 4, and is covered in red silk, with a gold thread in it, woven with a very large mesh, or even possibly made by hand. In the centre of each board is a large monogram worked in a thick cord of blue silk, through which runs a silver thread. The monogram, like so many similar arrangements of letters, causes much difference of opinion among the experts who endeavour to interpret it. My solution is that it is composed of the letters “A. F. H. REX,” the meaning of which is “Anglie, Francie, Hiberniæque Rex,” in accordance