mes or Prayers taken out of Holye Scripture,'
printed on vellum, by Thomas Berthelet, 1544. This book is of great
historic interest. Shortly before his death he gave it to his daughter,
Princess Mary (afterwards Queen Mary), who subsequently presented it to
Queen Catherine Parr, with the following inscription: 'Madame, I shall
desyer yor grace most humbly to accepte thys ritde hande and unworthy
whose harte and servyce unfaynedly you shall be seur of duryng my lyf
contynually. Your most humble dowghter and servant, Marye.' On the back
of the leaf containing the foregoing inscription is written: 'Mors est
ingressus quidam immortalis future quae tamen est maxime horribilis carni
Catherina Regina K. P.' On a small piece of vellum inside the cover the
King has written: 'Myne owne good daughter I pray you remember me most
hartely wen you in your prayers do shew for grace, to be attayned
assurydly to yor lovyng fader. Henry R.' This book contains quite a
number of other inscriptions by Henry, Catherine, and others, and is, on
the whole, of peculiarly striking interest. It was purchased by Mr.
Quaritch for 610 guineas. A beautiful companion to the foregoing is a
manuscript 'Horae' of the fifteenth century, on very pure vellum,
consisting of 176 leaves (8-1/2 inches by 6 inches). This manuscript
formerly belonged to Margaret, mother of King Henry VII., and has at the
end this inscription, in her handwriting, addressed to Lady Shyrley, to
whom she presented it:

'My good Lady Shyrley pray for
Me that gevythe you thys booke,
And hertely pray you (Margaret)
Modyr to the kynge.'

Margaret, Countess of Richmond and Derby, was the only daughter and heir
of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset, and was not only distinguished for
her piety and charity, but was a great patron of Caxton, whose
successor, Wynkyn de Worde, styled himself 'Her printer.' This beautiful
manuscript was probably written and illuminated by her command in the
reign of her son, Henry VII. It realized L350.

[Illustration: _Queen Elizabeth's Golden Manual of Prayers._

Front Cover.]

For all practical purposes, Queen Elizabeth may be regarded as the first
distinguished _femme bibliophile_. Of this truculent and strong-minded
personage much has been written, and it is scarcely likely that there is
much unpublished material respecting her library. It is not necessary
nor desirable to enter exhaustively into even so fascinating a topic. A
few