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English Embroidered Bindings, 1560s to 1660
From: The British Library
| By:
Philippa Marks |
EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION |
Running parallel to the history of books is the history of their bindings, which throughout the Renaissance told a great deal about the wealth and status of their owners. As British Library curator Philippa Marks reveals in a virtual exhibit of some of the more valuable examples of this craft, embroidered bindings may be appreciated both for their beauty and for the fascinating stories they tell about Tudor and Stuart England. |
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| Flower from The Whole Book of Psalmes, London, 1643. | |
 mbroidered bindings were the height of fashion in England from approximately the middle of the sixteenth century to 1660. These bindings were expensive items of luxury: materials used included velvet, satin, pearls, sequins, and gold and silver threads. A
visitor to Elizabeth I's private library in 1598 noted that the books were all "bound in velvet of different colours, though chiefly red, with clasps of gold and silver; some have pearls and precious stones." (Quoted in P.J.M. Marks, The British Library Guide to
Bookbinding, London, 1998, p. 57.) They are undoubtedly works of art, but they also give fascinating insights into the daily life of Tudor and Stuart England. Embroidered figures depicted on the covers show the dress and fashions of the day, the decorative motifs indicate contemporary artistic taste, and the techniques used show the standard of workmanship. |
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| David holding the head of Goliath from The Whole Book of the Psalmes, London, 1640. | |
Traditionally, cloth was the choice for luxury bindings, particularly on devotional works. Large-format Bibles and prayer books owned by cathedrals and other prosperous ecclesiastical institutions were richly bound in expensive materials, almost becoming objects of veneration themselves. These bound books were regarded as treasures
and were not handled by any but the clergy. However, from the middle of the sixteenth century small clothbound religious texts were commissioned by wealthy individuals for their own private use, or presented as gifts. What did an embroidered binding say about its owner? |
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| Snail from The Whole Book of the Psalmes, London, 1640. | |
These bindings made a statement about a person's taste, purse and piety. All people were required to attend church regularly, and the wealthy took their own embroidered devotional works with them. Status was very important. An embroidered binding was not only a conspicuous indication of wealth, since bindings were costly; it also
demonstrated piety, since the owner had chosen to spend his money on a devotional work. An elaborate binding would draw attention to the book, and therefore implied that its owner could read. The nature of its decoration would show the owner to be a connoisseur. Status could be indicated in a more basic way: often nobles commissioned
their coats of arms or family emblems to be embroidered on the covers. In doing so, they were following the example of royalty. A bill dated 1640 from the "Imbroiderer to the Prince his hiness," John Morris, shows that he supplied armorial embroidered bindings to
Charles, Prince of Wales (later Charles II) and his brother James, Duke of York. (G.D. Hobson, Bindings in Cambridge Libraries, Cambridge 1929, p. 123.) |
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| Butterfly from The Whole Book of the Psalmes, London, 1640. | |
The covers were usually made of canvas, velvet, satin or silk and were more often worked by professional embroiderers (usually men) than amateur needlewomen. English embroidery had a high reputation in Europe. The embroidery on the book covers reflected the patterns used on contemporary curtains, bedcoverings and clothes and were produced
by the same people. There professional embroiderers frequently used pattern books on which to base their designs.
As well as coats of arms, allegorical figures such as Faith and Hope, biblical scenes (King David was a popular subject), flowers, birds and insects were frequently included in the decorative schemes. Embroidered bindings often came with elaborately worked cloth bags to match. Other embellishments included ribbon markers, ties made of
coloured fabric and painted fore-edges. |
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| Moth from The Whole Book of the Psalmes, London, 1640. | |
The decorated fabric cover was not part of the structure of the binding. The embroiderer would frequently purchase the books (usually, but not always, devotional works) bound in plain boards from a bookbinder and make decorated covers to fit. The bound books
were sometimes specially commissioned, or less expensive examples could be purchased already covered. Milliners such as those mentioned in a petition of 1638, sold "rare and curious covers of Imbrothery and needleworke" and the fact that they were challenging a
decree restricting the sale of Bibles and prayer books to stationers implies that they were available from stationers' shops, too. (Howard M. Nixon and Mirjam M. Foot, The History of Decorated Bookbindings in England, Oxford, 1992, p. 54.) |
Embroidered bindings can be appreciated without any specialist knowledge of contemporary practices. Their primary appeal is visual, and they have rightly been described as "among the most charming examples of English seventeenth-century art." (John P. Harthan, Bookbindings, London, 1985, p. 21.) |
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