MEMOIRS OF THE MARTYR KING, BEING A DETAILED RECORD OF THE LAST TWO YEARS OF THE REIGN OF HIS MOST SACRED MAJESTY KING CHARLES THE FIRST (1646-1648-9)

London: John Lane, 1905. No. 145 OF 400 COPIES (325 of these for sale in England and America). 317 x 227 mm. (12 3/8 x 9"). xxii, [2], 270, [6] leaves (two full-page and two double-page genealogical tables), [271]-277, [1] pp.
VERY HANDSOME RED MOROCCO BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE for the J. W. Robinson Company, cover with frames of gilt and blind rules, square cornerpieces with a Tudor rose and leaves against a pointillé background, center panel of the upper cover with the title lettered in gilt at head and the cipher of Charles I within a laurel wreath at the foot, raised bands, spine compartments with Tudor rose surrounded by leaves at center, fan cornerpieces, gilt titling, wide turn-ins decorated by multiple gilt rolls, indigo watered silk endleaves, all edges gilt. ILLUSTRATED WITH 113 IMAGES ON 84 PLATES (30 portraits on 34 plates; 39 stately homes and palaces on 14 plates of contemporary photographs and 15 plates with reproductions of popular prints; and 33 photographs of relics and personal effects on 19 plates) and extra-illustrated with two contemporary broadsheet portraits of Charles I, inlaid to size. WITH A MANUSCRIPT DOCUMENT SIGNED BY CHARLES I tipped in at front, one page on a folded sheet of paper, written in a secretarial hand, signed by the king at the head, and dated 9th November 1639 (the 10th year of his reign). Front pastedown with morocco bookplate of Estelle Doheny; front flyleaves with the bookplates of Edward Laurence Doheny and Carrie Estelle Doheny. ◆The silk covering the hinges split (but the leather underneath unaffected and entirely sound), occasional faint foxing or minor offsetting from plates, but A VERY FINE COPY, clean, fresh, and bright internally, and IN A BEAUTIFUL, ESPECIALLY LUSTROUS, AND UNWORN BINDING.

This collection of first-hand accounts of the trial and final days of the martyred King Charles I is extensively illustrated, magnificently presented in a handsome, substantial binding, and augmented with an original manuscript letter signed by the doomed monarch. Written in a secretarial hand, the document is addressed to Sir William Uvedale (ca. 1581-1652), clerk of the Court of the Star Chamber, who is ordered to replace a recently deceased member of that court. The Star Chamber court, which operated outside the common-law courts, was often employed to prosecute crimes that might be deemed by the king to be disorderly or seditious in nature. But Charles misused this instrument of prosecution, which led to its increasing unpopularity and consequent dissatisfaction with the king. Parliament abolished the court in 1641, but its abuse was a significant part of the king's undoing. Our inserted document complements an already lavish production that includes numerous portraits and photographic plates, as well as two contemporary extra-illustrations. The sumptuous binding was produced by Sangorski & Sutcliffe for the J. W. Robinson Company of Los Angeles, which supplied the libraries of important California collectors like Estelle Doheny (1875-1958), one of the most distinguished book collectors of the 20th century, whose extraordinary collection was especially rich in fine bindings. The wife of oil tycoon Edward Doheny, Estelle began collecting books in the 1920s, eventually amassing a library of approximately 7,000 books and 1,300 manuscripts. Her interests included illuminated manuscripts, incunabula, and Western Americana in addition to fine and historic bindings, and her collection of fore-edge paintings was the most extensive ever assembled. In the summer of 1931, at the height of the Depression, she spent an average of $1,000 per day on books, according to Bonino. In beautiful condition and with many features to recommend it, this special volume has both style and substance, not to mention its distinguished provenance..