File:Embroidered bookbinding England 16th century.jpg

Embroidered bookbinding. "The book is in three volumes, and is a copy of the Historia Ecclesiastica, written by [John] Christopherson, Bishop of Chichester, and printed at Louvain in 1569. Each of these volumes is bound in the same way, so the description of one of them will serve for all, except that no one volume is perfect, so the description must be taken as representing only what each originally was.

"It is covered in deep green velvet, and measures 6 by 3½ inches, the design being the same on each side. In the centre the royal coat-of-arms is appliqué in blue and red satin, on an ornamental cartouche of pink satin, with scrolls of gold threads and coloured silks, richly dotted with small pearls. The bearings on the coats-of-arms are solidly worked in fine gold threads.

"From each corner of the sides springs a rose spray, with Tudor roses of red silk mixed with pearls, and Yorkist roses all worked in pearls clustering tight together, the leaves and stems being made in gold cord and guimp. A decoratively arranged ribbon outlined with gold cord and filled in with a line of small pearls set near each other, encloses the design, and numerous 59single pearls are set in the spaces between the roses and their leaves and stems.

The back is divided into five panels bearing alternately Yorkist roses of pearls and Tudor roses of red silk and pearls, all worked in the same way as the roses on the sides.