velvet, and so has each piece of gold cord which has been pulled off.
The back is still existing; but bad though both sides and back now are,
it is much better they should be in their present condition than that
they should have been mended or replaced in parts by newer material.

_Christian Prayers._ London, 1570.

A simpler binding, but still one of great richness, covers a copy of
_Christian Prayers_, printed in London in 1570.

This is covered in crimson velvet, measuring 6 by 3-1/2 inches, and is
worked largely with metal threads, mixed with coloured silks. In the
centre is the crest of the family of Vaughan--a man's head with a snake
round the neck. The crest rests on a fillet, and is enclosed in a
twisted circle of gold with four coloured bosses. From the upper and
lower extremities of this circle spring two flower forms in gold and
silver guimp, with sprays issuing from them bearing strawberries, grape
bunches, and leaves, in the upper half, and roses and leaves in the
lower. The grapes are represented by rather large spangles, and the
leaves, worked in gold, have a few strands of green silk in them; large
spangles, kept down by a short piece of guimp, are used to fill in
spaces here and there. This is the first instance of the use of spangles
on a velvet book. The back is tastefully ornamented with gold cord
arranged diamond-wise, and having in each diamond a flower worked in
gold.

Parker, _De antiquitate Ecclesiae Britannicae_. London, 1572.

This is one of the embroidered books that belonged to Queen Elizabeth,
and has been frequently illustrated and described. It is remarkable in
other respects than for its binding, as it is one of a number of
probably not more than twenty copies of a work by Matthew Parker,
Archbishop of Canterbury, _De antiquitate Ecclesiae Britannicae_, printed
for him by John Day in London, 1572. It was the first instance of a
privately printed book being issued in England.

[Illustration: 21--Parker, De antiquitate Ecclesiae Britannicae.
London, 1572.]

Archbishop Parker had a private press, and his books were printed with
types cast at his own cost, John Day being sometimes employed as his
workman. No two copies of this particular work are alike, and it is
supposed that the Archbishop continually altered the sheets as they came
from the press and had the changes effected at once. The book has two
title-pages, each of which, as well as a leaf containing the arms of
the Bis