Shrewsbury School Library

James B. Oldham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781135761813
• Subtopic: Library & Information Science

First Published in 1990. Shrewsbury School dates back to the end o f the sixteenth century, and owes its existence to the provision contained in the Ordinances of 1578. This is a listing and descriptions of the books, bindings and comtents of the library.

Catalogue Raisonné

REGISTER BOOKE FOR THE LIBRARY. MS. 1634–1743

English binding, c. 1634.

Brown calf over wooden boards; rebacked; now I clasp on lower cover, originally 2 clasps on upper, 428 × 280 mm.

Brass corner-pieces with one boss each, and lozenge-shaped brass centre-piece with five bosses; above this, in gold, schola, and below, salopiae; two strips of brass running from head to tail near the back, probably originally holding in place a doeskin cover to the back, as on a.IV.30.

This binding, which is almost exactly like that of Domesday Book in the Public Record Office (incorrectly attributed to the 14th century), no doubt dates from a little before the time when the book, bought as a blank book, was first used. The entries go back to 1596, but all down to 1634 are in the same unvarying hand, and were evidently written in that year, for they are in the hand of the clerk¹ who wrote the list for that particular year in the series of contemporary lists of new accessions made annually from 1606, and now in the Library

¹ These entries are not, as Fisher thought (Annals of Shrewsbury School, p, 244), in the hand of the Headmaster, John Meighen,

SCHOOL BAILIFF’S ACCOUNTS. MS. 1578–1663

English, probably London, binding, c. 1578.

Brown calf over paper boards; 3 leather bands stitched over back and on to sides; leather strap on upper cover, 302 × 202 mm.

Border, quadruple at sides, triple at bottom, double at top, formed by three different rolls; outermost (i), double crested roll; innermost (2), intaglio roll of conventional foliage (double at sides, single at bottom, absent at top); between them roll (3) bearing Renaissance ornament and conventional foliage in compartments, 124 × 10 mm.; on back, rolls (2) and (3).

Presumably the binding dates from about 1578, as in the accounts for that year occurs the item, 'pro isto libro compot. solut. iiij s', showing that the book was then bought as a blank book. Though none of the rolls is otherwise known to me, they are of the type used in London, and it is certain that elaborately bound blank books were largely bought in London for use all over the country (see under A.VIII.10), and it may be surmised that their manufacture was almost confined to the capital, though L. W. (see Introd., p. xxvii) of Norwich is an example of a provincial maker of such books.

MS. IX. SERMONES FESTIVALES GILBERTI TORNACENSIS. English, 14th century

English binding, probably c. 1470.

Brown calf over wooden boards; rebacked, 3 bands; clasps on upper cover, 185 X 121 mm.

Endpapers, vellum.

Given by Richard Bostock,¹ of Tattenhall in the County Palatine of Chester, 1607.

¹ Richard Bostock entered the School in 1584.

Border formed by four single-line fillets; the whole of the side within this covered by vertical rows of stamps; against the back a row of free rosettes, the other five rows consisting alternately of the repetition of a rectangular stamp (i) bearing three flowers on an undulating stem, 32 x 7 mm. (outside and middle rows), and of a square stamp (2) bearinga two-headed eagle, 14 mm.

The peculiarity of this binding, which has the appearance of being distinctly early, is that the design includes no sort of frame; the vertical rows of stamps go right to top and bottom of the boards, which differentiates the design from the 'all-over' designs normal in Paris and common in Cologne. The writing of the MS. is English,² and, though nothing is known of the book's history before 1607, it is very unlikely that it would have gone abroad, been bound, and have returned to England again. There is a number of blank leaves, mixed paper and vellum, at the beginning, on which a table of contents has been written in a late 15th-century hand,² but there is no reason to think thac this owner of the MS. had it bound for him with these spare leaves left for the purpose, as there are many blank unused leaves added at the end. Though no binding at all similar with which it might be compared is known to me, the crude and primitive character of the design suggests that ic may be as early as the third quarter of the 15th century, when the revival of decorated leather bindings was only beginning in England.

² Information from Dr. E. Millar,

It is worth noticing that 16th-century English binders, when they used a roll-produced frame and, separated from it by a plain space, a centre panel consisting of vertical strips of a roll, usually left the centre panel unframed; this seems, too, to have been the usual practice in the Netherlands, as opposed to that of the Paris binders, who seem nearly always to have in such cases put an inner frame round the centre panel. Similarly, the mid-i6th-century English binder who owned roll (2) on a. VIII.10 (q. v.) sometimes covered the whole side with vertical strips of his roll without any frame; perhaps the present design should be regarded as a sort of anticipation of this, and of the English 16th-century practice above described.

See Plate I.

MS. XXXIX. KORAN. MESOPOTAMIAN, 1741.³

³ Information from the Department of Oriental MSS., British Museum.

Probably Mesopotamian binding, about contemporary.

Red morocco, stamped portions painted green, over paper boards; no bands showing; flap over fore-edges, 294 X 208 mm.

The binding seems originally to have belonged to another and thinner book, and consequently the flap does not fit properly over the fore-edees.

Narrow border suggestive of rope-work formed by the repetition of one stamp; in centre, a roughly oval stamp bearing an arabesque design, 90 x 65 mm. with, above and below it, a roughly lozenge-shaped stamp bearing a floral design, 29 x 21 mm.; on the flap, the same floral stamp; on back, a rectangular stamp bearing the Arabic inscription: (translated) 'Let none but the pure touch it.'

MS. JAMES V. SURVEY OF THE MANOR OF BERRINGTON IN THE COUNTY OF SALOP, MADE BY SLATER E. BAGE, 1776

English binding, contemporary.

Dark green morocco, gilt, over paper boards: 6 bands: eilt ed(?es: slits, aooarentlv never

used, for 2 ties, 271 x 189 mm.

Endpapers, marbled.

Border formed by two narrow ornamental rolls with flower and foliage stamps within them; on back, same flower stamps; edges of boards and turn-in tooled. In all, 12 tools are used, including 2 rolls.

The present binding is obviously the original one, but there is nothing to show where it was executed, It is unlikely that such elaborate work would be produced locally.

A.I.18. HOLY BIBLE. LONDON 1634

London binding, contemporary.

Brown calf over new wooden boards, bevelled on inside; rebacked, 6 bands; brass centre-and corner-pieces; clasps on upper cover; red edges, 449 x 293 mm.

Double outer frame formed by the repetition of a crested roll (I) pointed with fleurs-delis alternating with rose, thistle, and two types of crown, 123 x 20 mm.; single inner frame formed by the same roll, with floral ornaments at corners; the panel so formed divided into three by horizontal fillets; pairs of horizontal fillets from bands to frame.

The use of a centre panel divided by horizontal fillets into three, the top and bottom compartments being usually smaller than the middle, and of pairs of horizontal fillets from the bands to the frame, though common in Germany, appears to be peculiar in England to London. Two or three London binders, e.g. the binder of G.VIII.23 and the unidentified binder, I. R. (see under A.III. 10), sometimes used rolls instead of fillets to divide up the centre panel. The binding cannot be much later than the dace of printing, for the use of blind rolls was then going out of fashion. There are several variants of this heraldic crested roll.

See Plate XLIV.

A.II.2–7. BIBLIA SACRA CUM GLOSSA NICOLAI DE LYRA. LYONS 1529

London binding, contemporary.

Brown calf over paper boards; rebacked, 6 bands and 2 half-bands; clasps on upper cover, 370 x 260 mm.

Given by George Low,¹ citizen of London, 1615.Inthe 1659 List of Benefactors this book in six volumes is valued at £3.

¹ George Low was a native of Shropshire, and entered the School in 1577.

Outer frame formed by a roll (i), divided into compartments, bearing heads in medallions, a capstan-like ornament with three heads above it, and Renaissance ornament, 135 x 16 mm., bordered inside with a roll (2) of rosettes; inner frame, with a fleur-de-lis at each comer, formed by roll (2), bordered inside with a hatched roll (3); in centre, 4 fleurs-de-lis sec in cross form.

Although rosette rolls, hatched rolls, rolls with heads in medallions, and rolls with three heads above a capstan-like ornament (copied from the borders of French Books of Hours), were used in Paris as well as in London, and although the half-bands might rather suggest Paris, I attribute this binding to London for these reasons: (a) that the Paris three-heads rolls were not usually, if ever, divided into compartments; (b) that of the eleven books bearing these rolls known to me, the present belonged to a Londoner, another (S. Andrews EE.4.23) was bought in London, and another (Lambeth 1.6.14) ^was printed in London, and it seems very unlikely that it should have gone to Paris to be bound and come back again to London. Clasps on the upper cover would be compatible with either London or Paris binding. The dates of the books known to me bearing these rolls are 1518-33.

See Plate XLIV.

A.II.8–12. BIBLIA SACRA CUM GLOSSA NICOLAI DE LYRA. LYONS 1520

Probably Paris binding, contemporary.

Dark brown calf over wooden boards, slightly bevelled on inside; rebacked, 6 bands; clasps on upper cover; iron chain-clip, 358 x 247 mm.

Frame formed by roll (i) bearing Renaissance ornament, with three heads above a capstan-like ornament, 133 x 22 mm.; centre panel, mitred by fillets to frame, formed by four vertical strips of rolls, the two outer (2) bearing Renaissance ornament, 142 x 18 mm., the two ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Half Title
• Original Title Page
• Dedication Page
• PREFACE
• Contents
• LIST OF PLATES
• NOTE ON THE EARLIER HISTORY AND ORGANIZATION OF SHREWSBURY SCHOOL LIBRARY
• INTRODUCTION
• NOTE
• CATALOGUE RAISONNÉ
• GLOSSARY (ILLUSTRATED)
• INDEXES: