ENGLISH MONARCHS

Evening Post, Volume CXXIII, Issue 112, 13 May 1937, Page 14

ENGLISH MONARCHS

BOOKS AND RECORDS

DISPLAY AT TURNBULL

LIBRARY

To be in keeping with the times, the Turnbull Library has again drawn upon its remarkable resources to provide a showing of documents and books associated or dealing with the English Monarchy since the time of Alfred. To broaden the scope of the current exhibition, a few notable sidelights yhave been introduced, and, indeed, uniformity has been deliberately avoided in order to introduce as wide a range of material as possible. The library has especial strength in books of the Stuart period, and probably the most important is the group of regicide pamphlets notable for Milton's contributions to that controversy. In the handsomely-produced bulletin which explains the collection of exhibits, especial attention is' given to this matter. The library has three editions of the famous "Eikon Basilike," the .remarkable book, attributed to Charles I, that, running through over fifty editions in two years, may largely have been responsible for the restoration of the Stuarts after Cromwell's tim : e.- A remarkable ...,. association of Charles I is-a fragment of his "robe, which for many years formed part of the pulpit cloth of Trent Church, England. There is to be seen also a facsimile of the original warrant for the execution of this unfortunate monarch, signed by Cromwell. Another document of a similar nature is the order" for the execution of Mary, Queen of Scots, given under the hand of Queen Elizabeth. This appears in an excellent facsimile. Reproductions of other famous Royal documents are Magna Carta, signed by King John in 1215. Doomsday Book, compiled at William the Conqueror's order in 1087, and a letter from Henry VIII to Cardinal Wolsey in 1518. Old chronicles such as those of Holinshed, Hardyng, and Hall, all of the sixteenth century, give early and quaintly-illustrated (with woodcuts) accounts of Henry V, King Alfred, William Rufus, and Harold. SELECTION OF PORTRAITS. The.library has gathered a number of portraits of English monarchs of several kinds—in woodcut, copperplate, steel engraving, and lino-cut, down to the modern half-tone. Some are in colour, the effect being to lend a brightness to the entire group. Early books dealing with English monarchs form a numerous class. One celebrating Elizabeth's accession to the throne is in verse, the final line of each stanza ending with the word Elizabeth. Upon the Coronation of Charles 11, John Evelyn, the famous diarist, inscribed a panegyric to the King, and this, too, is to be seen. A guide to Coronation procedure for the Wardens of the Cinque Ports, produced at the beginning of George Ill's reign, is an interesting book. ,7 Several, volumes deal with an unofflcial* though often important side (of the-lives of kinks—their-mistresses and love affairs. Others, with conspiracies for their murder or trials of wouldbe assassins. Two items show the actual handwriting of Queen Mary and King Edward VII. For the occasion, a fine group fcfis been loaned by T. L. Seddon, Esq., of Feilding. These comprise a well-pre-served legal document in Ms. of Edward I's time, 1292; two books from Royal libraries, those of James I and Queen Anne; the Statutes of Henry.Vll (printed by Caixton, here in facsimile) and "The Game and '■ Player of the Chesse," a treatise on chess, but also on the • functions of• monarchs. The latter is also a facsimile 'of a Caxton book, and a most interesting item. This gives but a glimpse of-the, fascinating books to be seen in'this jyellplanned exhibition, and those interested in books and history will' find _ a visit well worth while. A selection of more of less modern books relating to our monarchs is in a reading rack in the same room and adds to the attractiveness of the exhibition. ;. It is .in'this succession of exhibitions 01 . such continuing interest that the wealth of this valuable; library is to be 1