covers, inlaid with pieces of carved
ivory, representing our Saviour with an angel above him, and the
Virgin and Child.

The carved ivory may probably be a subsequent interpolation, but it
does not the less exemplify the practice. But as the taste for luxury
and ornament increased, and the bindings, even the clumsy wooden ones,
became more gorgeously decorated--the most costly gems and precious
stones being frequently inlaid with the golden ornaments--the shape
and form of them was altogether altered. With a view to the
preservation and the safety of the riches lavished on them, the
bindings were made double, each side being perhaps two inches thick;
and on a spring being touched, or a secret lock opened, it divided,
almost like the opening of a cupboard-door, and displayed the rich
ornament and treasure within; whilst, when closed, the outside had
only the appearance of a plain, somewhat clumsy binding.

At that time, too, books were ranged on shelves with the leaves in
front; therefore great pains were taken, both in the decoration of the
edges, and also in the rich and ornamental clasps and strings which
united the wooden sides. These clasps were frequently of gold, inlaid
with jewels.

The wooden sides were afterwards covered with leather, with vellum,
with velvet,--though probably there is no specimen of velvet binding
before the fourteenth century; and, indeed, as time advanced, there is
scarcely any substance which was not applied to this purpose. Queen
Elizabeth had a little volume of prayers bound in solid gold, which at
prayer-time she suspended by a gold chain at her side; and we saw, a
few years ago, a small devotional book which belonged to the
Martyr-King, Charles, and which was given by him to the ancestress of
the friend who showed it to us, beautifully bound in tortoise-shell
and finely-carved silver.

But it was not to gold and precious stones alone that the bindings of
former days were indebted for their beauty. The richest and rarest
devices of the needlewoman were often wrought on the velvet, or
brocade, which became more exclusively the fashionable material for
binding. This seems to have been a favourite occupation of the
high-born dames about Elizabeth's day; and, indeed, if we remember the
new-born passion for books, which was at its height about that time,
we shall not wonder at their industry being displayed on the covers as
well as the insides[127]. But very probably this had been a fav