boards, with leather covering upon the same; curiously
stamped with arabesque, and other bizarre, ornaments. In the
interior of this binding, next to the leaves, there was
sometimes an excavation, in which a silver crucifix was
safely guarded by a metal door, with clasps. The exterior of
the binding had oftentimes large embossed ornaments of
silver, and sometimes of precious stones [as a note in the
Appendix to the _History of Leicester_, by Mr. Nichols, p.
102, indicates--and as Geyler himself, in his _Ship of
Fools_, entitled "_Navicula, sive Speculum Fatuorum_," edit.
1511, 4to., thus expressly declares:--"sunt qui libros
inaurunt et serica tegimenta apponunt preciosa et superba,"
sign. B. v. rev.], as well as the usual ornaments upon the
leather; and two massive clasps, with thick metalled corners
on each of the outward sides of the binding, seemed to
render a book impervious to such depredations of time as
could arise from external injury. Meantime, however the worm
was secretly engendered within the wood: and his perforating
ravages in the precious leaves of the volume gave dreadful
proof of the defectiveness of ancient binding, beautiful and
bold as it undoubtedly was! The reader is referred to an
account of a preciously bound diminutive godly book (once
belonging to Q. Elizabeth), in the first volume of my
edition of the British _Typographical Antiquities_, p. 83;
for which I understand the present owner asks the sum of
160_l._ We find that in the sixteenth year of Elizabeth's
reign, she was in possession of "Oone Gospell booke covered
with tissue and garnished on th' onside with the crucifix
and the Queene's badges of silver guilt, poiz with wodde,
leaves, and all, czij. oz." _Archaeologia_, vol. xiii., 221.
I am in possession of the covers of a book, bound (A.D.
1569) in thick parchment or vellum, which has the whole
length portrait of Luther on one side, and of Calvin on the
other. These portraits, which are executed with uncommon
spirit and accuracy, are encircled with a profusion of
ornamental borders of the most exquisite taste and richness.
We shall speak occasionally of more modern book-binding as
we proceed. Meanwhile, let the curious bibliomaniac glance
his eye upon the copper-plate print which faces this