Illustrium maioris Britanniae scriptorium ….

6.12 Edward VI binding.jpg

Creator

Bale, John.

Title

Illustrium maioris Britanniae scriptorium ….

Coverage

Ipswich

Publisher

John Overton [i.e., W. D. van der Straten]

Date

1548

Description

The Library’s copy of John Bale’s bibliography of English writers retains its original royal presentation binding: calf over wooden boards, with a roll border of medallion heads and other Renaissance ornamentation surrounding a central blind-stamped panel of the Crucifixion. The binding is undoubtedly contemporary German work, as decorations have been found in Heidelberg bindings of about this period. The inscription “Edwardus A[n]glo[rum] Rex” was probably added in England before the book was presented to Edward VI, who died at the age of sixteen in 1553 after a reign of only six years.

Source

Gift of Lucius Wilmerding, 1932.