Up to the present, as far as bookbinding is concerned, I have only recorded one change in the royal coat of England, when Henry VIII., in 1528, altered his supporters, but on the accession of James I. to the throne of England a much greater and more important change took place. Not only was the shield of Scotland added, but also that of Ireland, which, although Elizabeth seems to have used it sometimes, was never before officially adopted. The harp of "Apollo Grian" has, equally with the Scottish coat, remained an integral part of our royal shield ever since. The coats of France and England were now quartered and placed in the first and fourth quarters, the coat of Scotland in the second quarter, and the coat of Ireland in the third. With minor changes and additions, this coat remained the same until the reign of George III., who, in 1801, finally omitted the coat of France. As to the supporters, James I. retained the crowned lion of Henry VIII., and substituted one of his white unicorns for the red dragon of Cadwallader; and these supporters remain unaltered to the present day.

The fashion of stamping in gold on velvet, one example of which I have already described as having been done for Edward VI. Or Elizabeth, was practiced to a considerable extent for James I., and there are several examples of it. James evidently thought much of the Tudor descent, by virtue of which he held his English throne; and he used the Tudor emblems freely. One large stamp was cut for him with the coat-of-arms just described within a crowned Garter, all enclosed in an ornamental oval border, in which are included the falcon badge of Queen Elizabeth,
the double rose, portcullis, and fleur-de-lis of the Tudors, and the plume of the Prince of Wales. This stamp commonly occurs on leather bindings, but it also occurs, used with great effect, stamped in gold or velvet. A very charming specimen of this is on a copy of Bogusz,AIAZKEYIE Metaphysica, printed on satin at Sedan, 1605, which is bound in crimson velvet, and has two blue silk ties at the front edge. At each of the four corners of the large stamp are four small decorative stamps. It is a presentation copy to James 1., and has an autograph of Henry Prince of Wales inside the cover. In the Manuscript Department of the British Museum, belonging also to the old royal library, is a small book bound in dark green velvet, in the centre of which is stamped, in gold, the royal coat-of-arms within an ornamental border, into which is introduced the design of a thistle. An outer border of gold lines has decorative stamps at each corner. The manuscript is about the introduction of Christianity into England. These two designs, or amplifications of them, are the only ones that I have met with on stamped velvet bindings done for James.

There are a considerable number of books still remaining that belonged to James, bearing the royal coat-of-arms with supporters and initials, bound in leather. They often bear upon them rich semees, which form of ornamentation was used for James 1. more than for any other sovereign. The semees generally consist of small lions passant, thistles, tridents, fleurs-de-lis, stars, or flowers. Books of this kind, with heavy corner¬pieces, are so widely known that detailed description of them is hardly necessary; but there are modifications, some of which render the bindings of greater interest. One of these is a calf binding on Ortelius, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, printed in London in 1606 (Plate V.) It measures 23 inches by 14, and when in its original state, was doubtless one of the finest bindings done for James 1. The full coat-of-arms, with small inlays of red leather, is further coloured by hand, and is enclosed within a rectangular border. Between this and the corner-pieces is a very elaborate and graceful design of twining stems, leaves, and arabesques. The binding has been largely repaired, but the new stamps have been accurately copied from the old ones; and, except the outer border which is new, the design upon it is probably in all material points the same as it was originally.