One volume alone remains that bears upon its binding evidence of having
belonged to Margaret Tudor, and this is one of great beauty. It was
presented to the British Museum in 1864 by the Earl of Home, and is a
manuscript of prayers with miniatures of French work called _Le Chappellet
de Ihesus et de la Vierge Marie_ (Fig. 4). It belonged first to Anna, wife
of Ferdinand, King of the Romans in the sixteenth century. It is bound in
green velvet and has silver clasps and bosses, partly gilt. The clasps
have the letters "I.H.S." upon them, gilded, and the attachments of the
clasps to the volume have the letters ANNA on them, one letter on each,
gilded. These were evidently made for the first owner of the book. Then
when it became the property of Queen Margaret, she added her name,
MARGVERITE, on the sides in a very pretty manner, each letter, in silver,
forming the centre of a double or Tudor rose, gilded. The inner rose has
its petals smooth, and the outer one has its petals roughened, as are also
the little leaves between each petal.
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--_Il Petrarcha. Venetia, 1544. Queen Katharine
Parr._]
Henry VIII.'s younger sister Mary married first Louis XII. of France, and
afterwards Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and there is one binding in
the British Museum, purchased in 1865, which belonged to her as Duchess of
Suffolk. It is an Herbal printed at Frankfort in 1535, and is bound in
dark calf, decorated with blind lines and gold stamped work. The broad
outer border has at first sight the appearance of a roll stamp, but it is
not actually so, the effect being produced by the successive impressions
of a long rectangular stamp having engraved upon it a pattern which, on
being repeated, gives the appearance of a continuous design. The design on
this stamp is original and simple, and has no "Italian" origin at all. The
inner panel has mitre-lines in blind at each of the angles, the points of
junction with the outer border being covered with a fleur-de-lis, and then
converging lines meet an inner rectangular line which encloses the royal
coat-of-arms of England, crowned, the two upper corner-spaces being
occupied by double roses, and the two lower by the portcullis badge and
chains, all impressed in gold. At the sides of the inner panel are the
initials "M. S.," presumably standing for "Mary Suffolk." The workmanship
of this curious volume is coarse and irregular, but there is a boldness
about it that is not without charm, and the design itself is well balanced
and effective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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