ble
articles. The exigencies of the beadwork, however, lends a certain
stiffness and ungainliness to the figures.

VII

EMBROIDERED BOOKS AND "BLACK WORK"

[Illustration: "STUART" BOOK COVER.

(_British Museum._)]

VII

EMBROIDERED BOOKS AND "BLACK WORK"

Style and symbolism--Specimen in British Museum and Bodleian
Libraries--"Black work"

Among the many dainty examples of Tudor and Stuart needlework are to be
found the exquisitely embroidered book-covers which date from Queen
Elizabeth's girlhood until the time of Charles II. They were always of
diminutive size, and many stitches diversify their covering; oftentimes
they were liberally embroidered with seed-pearls, and in these instances
most frequently this fashion has been their salvation. A book somehow
always seems to be a more sacred thing than a picture, and the costly
little volumes which remain to show this dainty handicraft have
apparently always been used either for Church or private devotional
purposes.

The designs of the book-covers almost always follow certain styles.
These are either heraldic, scriptural, symbolical, floral, or arabesque.

The first-named variety usually belonged to royalty or one of the many
noble houses whose ladies busied themselves with fair needlework. The
shield, containing the coat of arms of the family, occupied the centre
of the book-cover, being formed in raised gold and silver guipure or
cord, and on the reverse the worker's initials frequently appear, with a
pretty border in gold and silver, to outline the edges.

The scriptural book-covers are always worked on canvas in fine petit
point stitches. One in South Kensington Museum is larger than most of
these volumes, and has on one side Solomon in all his glory and on the
reverse Jacob and his ladder and King David. These canvas-covered books
appear to have suffered most from the wear and tear of time, and very
few remain.

The symbolical covers are few, and mostly uninteresting. They are worked
as a rule on silk and satin in loose satin stitches, which have suffered
much from friction. The sacred monogram is often the centre of the
device. A favourite design was adorning the back of the books with
portraits of the martyred King Charles I., Queen Henrietta Maria, and
the popular Duke of Buckingham.

[Illustration: POCKET-BOOK OF SATIN, EMBROIDERED WITH COLOURED SILKS AND
SILVER-GILT THREAD.

Said to have been the property of Queen E