On the front edge are the
remains of red and gold ties. The design of this charming little book is
excellent, and the colour of it when new must have been very effective.
The design is the same on both sides. The back is in bad condition, and
is panelled with arabesques in gold and silver cord.
_Bible._ London, 1583.
The most decorative, and in many ways the finest, of all the remaining
embroidered books of the time of Elizabeth is now at the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. It is one of the 'Douce' Bibles, printed in London in
1583, and probably bound about the same time. It was the property of the
Queen herself, and is bound in crimson velvet, measuring 17 by 12
inches. The design is the same on both sides, and consists of a very
cleverly arranged scroll of six rose stems, bearing flowers, buds, and
leaves springing from a large central rose, with four auxiliary scrolls
crossing the corners and intertwining at their ends. The large rose in
the centre as well as those near the corners are Tudor roses, the red
shown in red silk and the white in silver guimp, both outlined with gold
cord. Small green leaves are shown between each of the outer petals.
These flowers are heavily and solidly worked in high relief. The smaller
flowers are all of silver, the buds, some red, some white. The stems are
of thick silver twist enclosed between finer gold cords, and the leaves
show a little green silk among the gold cord with which they are
outlined and veined.
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