_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, 5-3/4 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 with
the words used by Elizabeth in her dedication, and the two H's, worked in
a thick red silk cord with a silver thread in it, which are above and
below the monogram, supply the needful name. I do not know that this
interpretation is by any one considered to be the right one, but it
appears to me at all events as plausible as any of the others I have
heard. At each corner is a heartsease of purple and gold and small green
leaves. This most curious and interesting binding is in many ways nearly
allied to that made for Queen Katharine Parr, which is now at the
Bodleian Library at Oxford, and which I shall presently describe. This
binding is also considered to be the work of the Princess Elizabeth, and I
think that the similarity in the peculiar groundwork, the identity of the
pansies in the corners, and the use of braid or very thick thread in each,
producing a maximum of effect with a minimum of labour, are all strong
reasons for believing that both volumes are the work of the same hand,
namely, that, of the Princess herself.
[Illustration: Deloenus. Libellus de tribus Hierarchiis, etc., MS. Henry
VIII.]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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