An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
his work, De Antiquz'tate Britannzcae Ecclesiae: the archbishop would, therefore, not
unnaturally, employ the same stationer to bind the copy of Matthew of Westminster, which he
intended for presentation to the queen. John Day, having followed the business of a printer for
about forty years, died in 1584- Unlike the gilding upon the books of Thomas Berthelet, which
was imitated for the most part from Venetian work, these Elizabethan bindings, especially in the
use of stamps and azured corner-pieces, show the very different influence, of the Lyonese
school of binders, which was at its height about this time: and the more these bindings depart
from the character of their originals, and reveal some trait, or other, which is peculiarly English,
as in the case of the two bindings by John Day, the less satisfactory do they become in regard to
their design.
The simpler bindings of Elizabeth often bear the badge of the crowned falcon, holding a sceptre,
which had been the device of her mother, Anne Boleyn; as on a copy of J ustinus' Trogi Pompeii
Historiarum Pht"Hppicarum ePitoma, Paris, 1581 [Co 27. g. 7.]. But Elizabeth appears chiefly to
have affected embroidered and velvet bindings, if we may judge from the remains of her library,
and from the account of the books, which Paul Hentzner, a native of Brandenburg, saw at
Whitehall, when travelling in this country, in August, 1598. These books, he tells us, in his
Itinerarium, were all bound in velvet of different colours, although chiefly red, with clasps of gold
and silver j some having pearls and precious stones set in their bindings. I may mention, as
examples of these, a small book, Orationis Dominicae Ezplicatio, by Lambert Daneau, Geneva,
1583, covered in black velvet, and embroidered with roses, in gold and silver thread, which is
preserved in the Old Royal Library, and which was apparently worked for Elizabeth [CO 24. a.]j
and a little volume of devotions, Medt'tationum ac precatzonum Christianarum libel/us, Lyons,
1570, bound in red velvet, and embellished with gold clasps, centre, and angle, pieces, which
are enameled in colors, with a crowned rose, the initials E. R., and other ornaments [Binding
Show Case v.]. In such examples as these, we have Elizabethan bookbinding at its perfection:
indeed, this little volume, with its enameled work, might, in its kind, be placed beside the
miniatures of Peter Oliver, and some contemporary jeweler’s work, for beauty and exquisite
workmanship.
During the sixteenth century, the private libraries in England, which contained any considerable
number of books, were few j and these were chiefly formed during the reign of Elizabeth. Of the
bindings executed for the owners of these libraries, the most remarkable are those made for
Thomas Wotton, the father of that incomparable writer, Sir Henry Wotton. This collector not only
adapted to his use the legend of Grolier; the inscription, THO MAE WOTTONI ET AMICORVM,
being commonly tooled on his books, although his arms sometimes occur alone; but the designs
upon his books, which, from their distinguished and uniform character, would appear to have
been the work of the same gilder, were conceived in the manner, which is associated with the
books of the French Treasurer. From these circumstances, Thomas Wotton has come to be
known as the English Grolier: