Royal English bookbindings / by Cyril Davenport.

  • Cyril James Humphries Davenport
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Royal English bookbindings / by Cyril Davenport. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    96/120 page 78
    Mr. E. H. Lawrence lent to the Burlington Fine Arts Club Exhibition of Bookbindings an exquisite specimen of Samuel Mearne’s work. It is a collection of anthems, with music, bound in dark blue morocco. It is elaborately stamped in gold, with a curved adaptation of the cottage design, closely filled in with masses of small gold work along the inner and outer edges. The crowned monogram, with laurel sprays, is in the centre of each of the sides, and it has a rich double border of scale patterns filled with gold stamped work. In the library at Windsor are several bindings that were done for James II., but they are generally of a simple kind, bearing heraldic devices in the centre enclosed in rectangular panels of more or less elaboration. At the British Museum are some Jacobean bindings of a more ornamental kind. One of these, a Cambridge Bible of 1674, is bound in crimson velvet, and has rich silk ties with bullion fringe (Fig. 20). It is heavily embroidered in gold, silver, and coloured silks, and bears in the centre the crowned initials “ J. R.” enclosed in a strap border intertwined with rose sprays and other floral designs. In each of the corners is a cherub’s head with wings. There are two volumes, each measuring 18x12 inches. Although, from the size of these books and the splendid colour, they are undoubtedly of imposing appearance, neither the design nor the workmanship can be considered of a high quality. Belonging to the King’s Library in the British Museum are two specimens, almost exactly alike except for their size, which may, for the present, be considered the finest that were done for James II. One of these is a Common Prayer, printed at Oxford in 1681. It is bound in red morocco, and has a black “ cottage ” fillet, broken at the angles and at each side. The crowned monogram “ J. R.,” with laurel spray, occurs in several places on the boards. The remaining spaces are closely filled with small gold stamped work, similar to that used by Samuel Mearne. The book is an unusually fat one, and bears upon its broad front edges, under the gold, the most elaborate painting I have found in such a position. It has the full coat-of-arms of England, with supporters, crown, and crest, enclosed in an elaborate border of flowers, cherubs, and ribbons. This painting is in remarkably fine condition, but, like all this class of work, the appearance of it depends very largely upon the manner in which it is displayed. The companion volume is a Bible of 1685. It
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