By Maureen E. Maryanski
This twenty-fourmo New Testament printed by Robert Barker in London in 1638 is bound together with The Whole Booke of Psalmes, collected into English meter by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, William Whittingham and others…. printed by J.L. in London in 1640. Bound in satin and embroidered with colored silks and silver thread, the binding features the figure of a woman in a yellow dress on both covers. Flower patterns surround the central oval panels and decorate the spine. While the identity of the embroidering binder is unknown, one owner left her mark throughout the little volume: Anne Bogan. In one inscription, her last name has been blotted out with ink, but her note “her book” is still legible. A later hand added Bogan in pencil beneath the ink blot. Bonus: gorgeous gilt gauffered edges!
Source: The Lilly Library, Indiana University Bloomington, call number: BS2085 1638 .L5. Photographs by Maureen E. Maryanski.
Early Modern Female Book Ownership 