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The King James Bible 1679 Samuel Mearne English Restoration Fine Binding
The King James Bible 1679 Samuel Mearne English Restoration Fine Binding
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The Holy Bible. Containing the Old Testament and The New: Newly translated out of the Original Tongues, And With the former Translations diligently compar'd & revis'd. By his Majestys special command. Appointed to be read in Churches. London: John Bill, Thomas Newcomb, and Henry Hills, 1679. [Together with] The Book of Common Prayer with the Psalms of David. London: John Bill, Christopher Barker, Thomas Newcomb, and Henry Hills, 1679. [Together with] The Whole Book of Psalms; Collected into English Metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others. London: E.T.R.H., 1679, a.e.g., large 8vo.
A BEAUTIFUL ENGLISH RESTORATION PERIOD FINE BINDING ATTRIBUTED TO SAMUEL MEARNE, CONSIDERED THE BEST BINDER IN THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH BOOKBINDING.
WITH INCREDIBLE PROVENANCE!
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Samuel Mearne (1624 - 1683) is perhaps the greatest English bookbinder of all time, being the most notable of the Royal Binders during the pinnacle of English bookbinding following the restoration of the monarchy. He was born in Reading, England and lived all of his professional life in Little Britain in Aldersgate. He passed his apprenticeship in 1646 and set up as a bookseller and publisher. In 1655, he and two others went to the Netherlands, where he probably performed a service to Charles in exile, because he was named bookbinder to the King on 20 June 1660. He was also a part owner of the king's printing house, with John Bill and Christopher Barker, the aforementioned two being some of the most recognisable names in English printing for their roles in the printing of the Bible.
David Pearson describes Mearne as "long celebrated as the greatest name in English Restoration bookbinding," with Catherine Sutherland calling Mearne "the best known binder of this period." She goes on to say "The restoration of the monarchy in 1660 is seen as the beginning of a 'golden age' in English bookbinding, in which Mearne was a figurehead. He is known as the chief exponent of the 'Cottage Style' or 'Cottage Roof' design." Indeed, Mearne is credited with creating the distinctively English Cottage Roof Style, the popularity of which grew to such an extent as to “endure with minor variations until the first quarter of the 19th century, thus lasting for a longer period than any other style of book decoration” (Roberts & Etherington). Our binding is in his trademark Cottage Roof style and is one of the most excellent examples of this style. John Carter described this style as "a style of decoration in which the top and bottom of the rectangular panel, which itself will be filled with smaller ornaments in a variety of rich designs, slope away from a broken centre, thus producing a sort of gabled effect."
Mearne was appointed Bookbinder to the King, and in 1675 he and his son Charles were granted the life-long offices of Bookbinder, Bookseller, and Stationer to the King. Mearne had many duties. According to H.M. Nixon's work 'English Restoration Bookbindings: Samuel Mearne and His Contemporaries', he bound 830 books for the Royal Library at St. James's, "over 650" of which are still in the Royal collection, with most others in other institutional collections such as Cambridge University, Eton College, the John Rylands Institute, Oxford University, and various London museums. Indeed, the majority of those are accounted for - 93 are in the London Museums and Libraries alone (at least in 1974). Therefore any bindings which are attributable to Mearne's workshop are very rarely encountered in commerce. The significant majority of those which do arise are in relatively plain bindings - for example plates 2 and 5-8 in the aforementioned work by H.M. Nixon, and one which sold at Tennants Auctions 28th July 2021 lot 101, realising £16,000 (GBP). These are not truly comparable to our example as they are not as lavishly produced. We could locate only a single sales record of a similar binding attributable to Mearne's workshop (one of the most luxurious of the bindings, as with ours), having sold in all prior sales records and this was 24 years ago, details below. There are other sales records of similar bindings by Mearne's apprentice and circle, details listed below.
We can distinguish our binding from the other bookbinders of the period through an examination of the tooling. We can say with reasonable confidence that it is not by Roger Bartlett or Robert Steele (Mearne's apprentice) due to the tools used. Often bindings thought to be by Samuel Mearne are actually by his apprentice Robert Steele, but we can distinguish our binding from his for the lack of the distinctive 'worm-like tool' used on his bindings as with the binding in the Royal Collection (RCIN 1123685), as well as the 'hedge-hog like tool' and many others. The tools used on our binding are the same as in well attributed bindings to Samuel Mearne, notably identifier Ds-f.3 at the University of Glasgow's collection which is a particularly similar Book of Common Prayer dated to 1678. We can also see identical tools used in examples attributed to Samuel Mearne described by H.M. Nixon in plates 17, 19, 22-23. Plate 23 being notably similar in design and time period of when it was bound (just two years later). That binding was certainly used by King William III for two years and ended up in King George III's library and so our binding is clearly one of the finest productions of the period. We do see some slight crossover in tooling with Charles Mearne as in plate 34 and so perhaps both Samuel and Charles Mearne worked on this binding which is entirely plausible.
Our binding is in a large octavo size and thus more portable than that illustrated in plate 23 of H.M. Nixon's work and thus it's conceivable that it was bound for the use of English royalty, especially during the interim period between James II and William and Mary where the Royal cypher was not used until 1691. It's certainly not the personal Bible for the King while in power as it does not have a fore-edge painting. The metal corners and centrepieces on our binding are near contemporary to the binding and thus do conceal the original design underneath which could have a Royal cypher which would elucidate the mystery. We haven't removed these to check due to the possibility of damaging the binding in doing so. Therefore, we can only speculate as to the original owner of the book. We know by name a few private individuals who commissioned bindings from the Mearne bindery and all were very important people, such as Samuel Pepys, etc. Though H.M. Nixon does regard that "Lord Chamberlain's accounts show Mearne supplying handsome Bibles and Prayer Books for various officials of the Royal Household"... also "numerous... as part of the chapel furniture of ambassadors and plenipotentiaries, but none of these have yet been identified with certainty." We find it unlikely that this binding was one provided to officials of the Royal Household due to just how luxurious a production it is, but use in the Royal Chapel is certainly conceivable.
The spine of this binding is notably distinct from most known examples of Mearne's work. However, we do find a comparable example depicted in the 11th edition of the Encyclopaedia Brittanica (1911) volume four, between pp.216 and pp.217 (figure 5) where the spine design is of similar structure, as is the Cottage Roof style of the visible front board. Importantly, this was of the same period, bound in 1678 in smooth red morocco and gold tooled with black fillets as with our binding. That binding is a Common Prayer book and uses some of the same tools used in our binding.
Also of note is the Bible itself housed in the magnificent binding. It is a very rare printing, especially the Psalms, for which ESTC only records one extant copy held at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. The Bible is also a rare printing for which only 8 copies are recorded in the UK and only one in the US at the Folger collection (just nine copies worldwide). From what we can see none of those are extra-illustrated as with our copy, making it quite a unique book indeed. Extra-illustrated may well be an understatement also, as there are hundreds of beautiful illustrations throughout our Bible which were not in the typical printed copy of this edition lending some credence to it being a very important presentation book.
It is therefore reasonable to say that this is perhaps the finest antiquarian King James Bible it is possible to own given that this is one of the finest productions from the best workshop of the greatest period in English bookbinding. The Bible itself is additionally a particularly lavish production, beautifully illustrated throughout, and red-ruled. It's also worth noting that this is a very early printing of the revised Book of Common Prayer following the still canonical 1662 revision. In fact, this Bible almost reads like a history book of the 1660 Restoration, with early illustrations depicting the martyrdom of King Charles I, the restoration of King Charles II, the gun-powder plot, etc, also lending some credence to this having Royal connections.
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Provenance:
Potentially bound for English royalty or for use in the Royal Chapel, discussed above.
Applied engraved metal corners and centrepieces to both boards, the centrepieces finely engraved with initials. We think that this is a set of two initials overlaid on top of each other, perhaps being 'E.A.R.' and 'J.A.B' given the two different typefaces at work. Thus potentially given as a gift to these owners as a wedding present or similar. We haven't yet been able to determine who these are.
Family birth and baptism records, probably from the above, dated between 1701 and 1706, to a rear blank giving details of 6 children called John, Margaret, William, Miriam, Shorter, and an unnamed son which died shortly after birth.
Bookplate of Joseph Marryat (1757-1824), the prominent English West India merchant, banker and MP. He was the father of Frederick Marryat (Captain Marryat), the important author of works such as Mr Midshipman Easy. We can reasonably assume that Frederick Marryat was influenced by this exact Bible through childhood which is of great significance given his importance in the history of English literature. We also find no less than 23 entries to the first few blanks detailing various members of the Marryat family as early as 1730 and as late as 1817 with some pencil inscriptions also from the Marryat family dating to 1893. Here we find the entry for Captain Frederick Marryat which reads "Frederick Marryat born Tuesday July the 10th 1792 at 1/4 past 7 in the evening (at Lond.). died august 1848."
Letter pasted to one of the front blanks dated 3rd December 1880, mostly illegible but probably also from within the Marryat family.
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Sales records:
After a broad comprehensive look at sales records for such bindings, we could find some relevant sales records. A much less extravagant binding of an extra-illustrated large folio Bible was offered at Bonhams 9th March 2017 lot 140 with an estimate of $25,000-$35,000 (USD). We do regularly find these more typical far less extravagant Samuel Mearne Bibles selling at auction over the last 50 years. Another example being at Tennants 28th July 2021 lot 101, realising £16,000 (GBP). However, these are not particularly comparable to his most luxurious Bibles which are very rare to the market.
A very nice binding attributed to Queen's Binder B (which could be Samuel Mearne), on a folio Bible sold at Christie's 17th October 1988 lot 1093 for $418,000 (USD), now in the Wormsley Library. A different though finely bound folio bible bound by Richard Steele (Samuel Mearne's apprentice) sold at Sotheby's Wardington Bibles sale in 2006 lot 102. A binding attributed to Samuel Mearne which is fairly similar sold at Christie's 13th July 2000 lot 407 realising £35,250 (GBP), approximately £64,100 inflation adjusted for 2023.
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Size: 135 x 191 x 75 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(4), frontis, A1-H8 (BCP), 13 plates (throughout), t.p., A1-3H8 (O.T.), 88 plates (throughout), A1-H8 (Apocrypha), 3I1-4B8 (N.T.), 96 plates (throughout), A1-F8 (Psalms), (3)]
Contemporary red morocco (goatskin, probably from Turkey and not Morocco) in cottage roof style attributable to the Mearne bindery, probably the combined work of Samuel and Charles Mearne. Near contemporary metal corners and centrepieces to both boards, presumably silver. Binding rebacked, probably circa the late 19th century, retaining the majority of the original backstrip and both original boards. Metal corner pieces occasionally slightly raised. Very attractive on the shelf from all angles. Large thick octavo size, all edges gilt. Occasional slight loss to gilt on binding but generally remains very bright and very attractive indeed, the same with the black morocco inlays. Very minor shelf wear. Binding secure with both boards securely attached. No shelf lean.
Lacks 3ff in gathering F in the Apocrypha else collates as complete through all books. Extra illustrated with a total of 197 stunning plates throughout with picture frame surrounds, 198 including the portrait frontispiece (i.e. 13 plates through the BCP, 88 through the Old Testament, and 96 through the New Testament, none through the Psalms at the rear). 2ff misbound in gatherings B and C of the BCP but present.
Bookplate to front pastedown and numerous inscriptions relating to former owners and their families as detailed under provenance, above. Hinges reinforced with similar (perhaps identical) marbled paper as with the endpapers. Endpapers edge toned as typical. Occasional tape residue stains to a few leaves, else generally exceptionally clean throughout. Clearly this Bible was very well looked after, presumably read on special occasions only and likely displayed, given the extensive ownership history.
An excellent Bible, certainly the finest octavo King James Bible that has ever come to the market.
[Psalms: ESTC R204223; Wing B2531A].
[Bible: ESTC R223594; Wing B2307, Darlow & Moule 747]
Literature:
Foot, M.M., ‘The British Bindings in the Henry Davis Gift’, The British Library Journal v.3/2 (1977) 114-128. JSTOR 42554046, accessed 26th Jan 2024
Pearson, David., 'English Bookbinding Styles 1450-1800. A Handbook', The British Library & Oak Knoll Press, 2005, pp.4-12.
Nixon, Howard M. 'English Restoration Bookbindings: Samuel Mearne and His Contemporaries'. London, British Library [British Museum Publications], 1974.
*The David Pearson book shows an attributed Samuel Mearne binding on pp.5, Fig 1.1 with some of the same tools used (BL 7.f.13, 1674)
References:
Catherine Sutherland, Pepys Library and Special Collections, Magdalene College libraries.
