Another princely travelling library: a book bound for Henry, Prince of Wales

Antiq. q N 1593, bound for Henry, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)
Antiq. q N 1593, bound for Henry, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)

Claire Audelan, Rare Books Department Intern, writes:

A gift to the Bodleian has led to the recognition of further provenance history, as another book from the 17th-century Prince Henry’s dispersed travelling library has been discovered in the Bodleian stacks.

Careful study of the travelling library of Prince Charles, later King Charles I, donated to the Bodleian Library before Christmas, has enabled staff in the Rare Books Department at the Bodleian to track down one of the remarkable gold-tooled green morocco bindings bearing the recognizable monogram ‘HP’ with a coronet on top that belonged to his elder brother Henry, Prince of Wales (d.1612).  The binding is one which seems to be from the travelling library made for Prince Henry. Others with the same binding are known to survive in the British Library.

This is an amazing step towards reconstructing the still mysterious history of these two outstanding libraries made for the 15 and 9 year-old princes since it brings the number of volumes known to have belonged to Henry Prince of Wales to 23.

Lucan, De Bello Civili, Antiq. q N 1593
Lucan, De Bello Civili, Antiq. q N 1593, copy bound for Henry, Prince of Wales (d. 1612)

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