This charming King James Version of the bible, printed in 1648 by the Company of Stationers with lovely raised work bindings, is just 15cm in length, and its inscriptions provide us with tantalising signposts to previous owners.
From the 16th century and into the first half of the 17th century embroidery was frequently deployed in the bindings of religious works. Ornate covers were made for books from an earlier era or were made at the time of publication, and they were frequently worked by skilled amateur embroiderers. Unfortunately, this bible gives us no clues as to the identity of its embroiderer, however the tradition of bindings was practised at all levels of society with varying degrees of sophistication and skill – the future Elizabeth I embroidered bindings for a series of books given to her father, King Henry VIII, and his sixth wife, Catherine Parr, as New Year gifts. The subjects and style of embroidery in bindings of the age are similar to those created for other small items for the home, and designs were copied from pattern books or prints, and panels with scenes already sketched out were also available. Many Old Testament scenes found in embroidery can be traced to a book of biblical stories dating from 1585 published in Antwerp by Gerard de Jode. It is likely that the bindings on our bible date from the Charles II period (1660-1685), and that the front cover depicts Queen Bathsheba with King David on the reverse.
The bible printer, the Company of Stationers, was founded in 1403 and approved by the City of London as a guild for manuscript writers and booksellers. Through a royal warrant of 1557 issued by Queen Mary the Company’s monopoly over printing was confirmed, with the Company effectively at this stage a guild for printers. During the Tudor and Stuart periods the Company was legally empowered to size ‘offending books’ in violation of standards as set down by Church and state, its officers could bring “offenders” before ecclesiastical authorities, usually the Bishop of London or the Archbishop of Canterbury, depending on the severity of the transgression. The Stationers were therefore placed in an important role in the shaping and policing of culture of England during the highly disruptive decades of the Protestant Reformation and the years of the English Civil War (1642-1651).
The frontispiece of the bible contains a number of inscriptions, the first of which reads ‘Sarah Marlow 1763’ – possibly one of two ladies named Sarah from the Marlow family: Sarah Marlow (née Kent, 1725-1791) was the youngest daughter of John Kent (1691-1726) and Mary Collman (1690-1775), and she married the Rev. Michael Marlow in 1750. Sarah and the Rev. Michael Marlow had four surviving children, the first of whom, a daughter, (born 1751) was also called Sarah. In 1763 Sarah Marlow would have been around 12 years of age, and the bible might perhaps have been passed to her through the family or given to her by family friends on the occasion of her confirmation. Sarah Marlow died in 1813 and she did not marry.
The second inscription reads, ‘George Thomas Clare Nephew of Dr. Marlow Entered into rest Sepbr 14th 1882’. The Dr. Marlow referred to here is probably the Rev. Dr. Michael Marlow (1758-1828) the youngest child and only son of Sarah and the Rev. Michael Marlow, and the brother of Sarah Marlow. The Rev. Dr. Marlow married Mary Jane Clare in 1796, so it is likely that George Thomas Clare was Marlow’s nephew by marriage. Marlow was educated at Merchant Taylors’ School, founded in 1561 by Sir Thomas White, Master of the Merchants Taylors’ Company, located in a manor house in the parish of St Lawrence Pountney in the City of London when Marlow was a pupil there. From Merchant Taylors’ Marlow won a scholarship to St John’s College, Oxford (also founded by Sir Thomas White, in 1555) in 1779 he became a Fellow of the College and in 1795 he was awarded the degree Doctor of Divinity, the same year in which he was elected President of the College. Marlow was to remain as President until the very end of his life, and he passed away whilst residing at the President’s Lodge. For a period of four years, from 1798 he was also Vice-President of the University, having been nominated by the Duke of Portland, Chancellor of the University from 1792-1809. Marlow was extremely active at Oxford, and combined various administrative roles with pastoral duties. He was the Rector of Hanborough (1789-1828), Prebendary of Canterbury (1803-1828) and in 1805 and 1817 was nominated as a select preacher at Oxford. Marlow was also a Delegate of Accounts, responsible for university-wide financial oversight and auditing, a Commissioner of Sewers and a Curator of the Sheldonian Theatre.
An obituary for the Rev. Dr Marlow in The Gentleman’s Magazine, April 1828, observed that ‘In private life he was one of the most amiable, kind-hearted, and benevolent of men, gentlemanly in his manners, liberal in his ideas, and generous and hospitable to the last degree’. As a preacher it was noted that had a plain and unaffected delivery and an elegant style. The appreciation further states that ‘It is impossible to do justice to the character of the late President’, and that his talents and virtues ‘will be long and sincerely lamented’. This obituary of April 1828 takes some of its phrasing and sentiment from another obituary, pasted into the front of the bible, and written a few days after the death of Marlow.
In one of the final pages of the bible and in a possibly earlier hand, when compared with the style of handwriting in the frontispiece, is an ‘Epitapth’ in which the virtues of six biblical women – Rachel, Leah, Abigail, Lydia, Martha and Mary – are bound together to form a tribute to an unidentified female individual. The exact wording and length of these accolades can vary, the verse was a popular appreciation from the late 17th century and throughout the 18th century, and it was often seen carved into the headstones of pious women notably in Britain and North America.
The bible has been in the possession of the current owner for many years and it is intriguing to think who will treasure it next as it heads towards its four-hundredth birthday.
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