At Windsor there is a copy of the Book of Common Prayer, printed in 1638. It is bound in blue velvet, and richly embroidered in silver guimp. In the centre are the Prince of Wales' feathers, enclosed within a circular Garter, and surmounted by a prince's coronet, with C. P. on either side of it. Below are the rose and the thistle. A rich outer border of arabesques encloses the central design. Her Majesty lent this book to the Burlington Fine Arts Club in 1891. It was figured in the Queen of August 15, in the same year. There are several other bindings at Windsor that belonged to Charles; among them a particularly charming specimen covers a copy of Ecphrasis. Paraphraseos, G. Buchanani in P salmos, 1620. It is a small book, and bears the Prince of Wales' feathers in the centre, within a border of crosses, patee, and fleurs-de-lis, surrounded by the Garter. It has large corner-stamps and a semee of fleurs-de-lis. The other bindings made for Charles 1 the same library generally bear the royal coat-of-arms and large corner-stamps) and dates often occur upon them.

Charles himself certainly took very considerable interest in book¬binding, and abundant evidence of this is found in the history of Nicholas Ferrar's establishment at Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire, the beginning and ending of which was synchronous with Charles's reign. The king visited Little Gidding more than once, and always evinced the liveliest interest in its work, a very important part of which was bookbinding. The most remarkable feature about these Little Gidding bindings, which were the work of amateur hands, was the stamped work on velvet, which actually reached its highest development under the auspices, and probably by the hands, of some of the Collet family, nieces of Nicholas Ferrar. They bound books for Charles and for both his sons; but, unfortunately, no specimen of their finer stamped work done for either of these princes is in the British Museum.

The copy of the Harmony of the Four Gospels, known as MONOTEZZAPON," which was given to Charles when Prince of Wales in 1640, is now in the library of the Earl of Normanton. It measures 24t X 16 inches, and is bound in green velvet, stamped elaborately in gold. A Concordance of the Four Evangelists, which was probably made for James, Duke of York, about 1640, is now the property of the Marquis of Salisbury, and is kept at Hatfield. It measures 20 X 14 inches, and is bound in purple velvet. Among the small stamps upon it is one of a fleur-de-lis.

The Whole Law of God, as it is delivered in the Five Books ofMoses, is another Little Gidding harmony, which was probably made for Prince Charles. It measures 29 X 20 inches, and is bound in purple velvet, and decorated with gold stamp-work of a similar kind. It was probably made about 1642, and now belongs to Captain Gaussen. The whole history of Little Gidding is most interesting; and, from a binding point of view, its existence during the reign of Charles I., and his kindly appreciation and patronage of it in the midst of all his own troubles, will always mark his reign as an important epoch in English bookbinding. I11ustrations of many of the Little Gidding bindings are given in Bibliograplzica, part vi.