Other formats

    Adobe Portable Document Format file (facsimile images)   TEI XML file   ePub eBook file  

Connect

    mail icontwitter iconBlogspot iconrss icon

The Pamphlet Collection of Sir Robert Stout: Volume 13

Case XIV.—Specimens of Bookbinding

Case XIV.—Specimens of Bookbinding.

1.Cæsar. Commentarii. Rome, 1469.—A specimen of Majoli binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
2.Pliny. Historia naturale. In Italian. Venice, 1476.—One of the largest specimens of Grolier binding known. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
3.Poliphilo [i. e. Francesco Colonna]. Hypnerotomachia. Printed by Aldus, at Venice, in 1499.—A specimen of Majoli binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
4.Ovid. Heroidum Epistolæ, &c.—Printed at Venice by Aldus, 1502. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode!
5.Virgil. Printed by Aldus at Venice, in 1505.—Specimen of Roger Payne's binding, with cameos inserted in covers. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
6.Galen. Methodus medendi. T. Linacro interprete. Paris, 1519.—On vellum. Presentation copy from Linaere to King Henry VIII., to whom the book is dedicated; in the original binding. From the old royal collection.
7.Petrarcha. Sonetti e Canzoni.—Printed at Venice by Aldus, 1521.—In the original binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
8.Basilius, &c. Epistolse. Haguenau, 1528.—Formerly belonging to Lord and Lady Burghley, the names "William Myldred Cicyll," being stamped on the cover. From the old royal collection.page 29
9.Witichindi Saxonis libri III. Printed at Basle, in 1532.—Specimen of Grolier binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
10.Opus eximium de vera differentia Regiæ potestatis et ecclesiasticse. London, 1534.—On vellum. Henry VIII.'s copy. From the old royal collection.
11.Macchiavelli. II Prencipe, &c. Printed by Aldus, at Venice, in 1540.—A specimen of Grolier binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
12.Cicero. Epistolæ.—Printed at Venice, by Aldus, in 1540. From the old royal collection.
13.Plato. Convivium. Paris, 1543.—Bound for Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, whose crest is stamped on the cover of the volume. From the library of King George II.
14.Cicero. Les Questions Tusculanes. Lyons, 1543.—Bound for King Edward VI. From the old royal collection.
15.Justinianus. Codex. Lyons, 1551. 2 vols.—Two different specimens of contemporary French binding. From the old royal collection.
16.Aristotle. Logic, Rhetoric, &c.—Printed at Venice by Aldus, 1551. Formerly in the collection of the historian De Thou, whose arms are stamped on the cover. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
17.Cicero. Rhetorica. Printed at Lyons in 1551.—Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
18.Calvete de Estrella. El Viaje del Principe Don Phelippe. Antwerp, 1552.—Bound for Queen Mary I. From the old royal collection.
19.Petrarcha. Opera.—Printed at Basle, 1554.
20.Mascher. II fiore della Retorica. Venice, 1500.—Bound for Queen Elizabeth, to whom the book is dedicated. From the old royal collection.
21.Pindar, &c.—Printed by H Estienne, 1566. 2 vols. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
22.Scotch Acts. Edinburgh, 1566.—Bound for Mary, Queen of Scots, whose arms are on the cover. From the library of King George III.
23.Sozomen et Evagrius. Historia ecclesiastica. Louvain, 1569.—Bound in embroidered velvet for Queen Elizabeth. From the old royal collection.page 30
24.Meditationum Libellus. Lyons, 1570.—Bound for Queen Elizabeth. From the library of King George III.
25.The Gospels in Anglo-Saxon and English. London, 1571. A presentation copy from John Foxe, the editor, to Queen Elizabeth, to whom the book is dedicated. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
20.Parker. De antiquitate Britannicæ Ecclesiæ. London, 1572.—The first book privately printed in England. A presentation copy from Matthew Parker, Archbishop of Canterbury, to Queen Elizabeth, for whom it was bound in embroidered velvet. From the old royal collection.
27.Valerius Maximus. Dictorum factorumque memorabilium libri. Antwerp, 1574.—From the collection of the historian De Thou. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
28.Danæus. Orationis Dominicæ explicatio. Levden, 1583.—Bound in embroidered velvet for Queen Elizabeth. From the old royal collection.
29.Lactantius. Lyons, 1587.—A specimen of contemporary French binding. Bequeathed by the Rev. C. M. Cracherode.
30.Biblia sacra.—Printed at Antwerp by C. Plantin, 1590. Bound in green velvet, embroidered with pearls, a garnet in the centre, with initials T. G. Purchased in 1846.
31.Acta Synodi Nationalis Dordrechti habitæ. Leyden, 1620.—Bound in embroidered velvet for King James I. From the old royal collection.
32.The New Testament and Psalms. London, 1630.—Embroidered binding. Purchased in 1844.
33.The Book of Common Prayer. London, 1632.—Bound in silver chased. Purchased in 1844.
34.Concordance, or Harmony of the Four Evangelists, illustrated expressly for King Charles I., by Nicholas Ferrar and his family, at the Protestant Nunnery, Little Gidding, Huntingdonshire, in the year 1635; and bound by Mary Collet, one of Mr. Ferrar's nieces. Described in the Quarterly Review for June, 1844, p. 173. From the old royal collection.
35.Holy Bible.—Printed at London by Robert Barker, 1642. The binding embroidered with gold and silver thread on pink satin. Formerly belonging to Mary Bacon. Purchased in 1842.page 31
36.The New Testament and Book of Common Prayer. London, 1643.—The binding ornamented with silver plates and clasps, containing the portraits of Charles I. and his Queen, and symbolical representations of the Cardinal Virtues, the Four Elements, &c. Purchased in 1850.
37.The Bible. Cambridge, 1674.—Bound in embroidered velvet for King James II. Purchased in 1847.

Having passed through the King's Library, the visitor proceeds up stairs to the galleries containing specimens of natural history and objects of antiquity.

The library has been twice counted. The first time on the 25th of July, 1838, when the number of printed volumes was found to be 235,000, and again on the 15th of December, 1849, at which period they had increased to 435,000. They are now about 550,000, and the annual increase is not less than 20,000 volumes.

J. Winter Jones.

British Museum, Feb. 12, 1858.