Statutes from England from 1327 to 1445

Place of OriginEngland

Dateabout 1460

Dimensions13 5/8 x 9 1/4 in.

MediumVellum

ClassificationManuscripts

Object number

1959.3

Not on View

Label TextBefore the printed word, there was the tradition of the written word. Until the mid-fifteenth century, before printing technology fully prevailed in book production, all texts, religious and secular, were laboriously and carefully written by hand. This manuscript was written for Sir Thomas Fitzwilliam of Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire, on the occcasion of his being made the justice of the peace. Later, he was Recorder of London (1483-96?) and Speaker in Parliament (1489). His desire to have a book containing more than a century's worth of English laws to help him in his legal profession is understandable, though it was courious that the volume is written in French. At intervals in the book, on each of six pages, appears six large illuminated initials containing a large shield with the arms of Fitzwilliam and records of six generations of the family with their respective coat of arms. This volume has a noteworthy provenance. One of the most interesting collectors who previously owned this book is William Morris, the great book designer and printer of the 1890s. A passionate book collector of top quality books, this manuscript was in Morris' library from 1891 until his estate sale in 1898. When he acquired the volume, he made an inscription on a blank page preceding the manuscript: " An English book of good quality as to writting and ornament. The illuminated borders and armouries very characteristic of the place and period (c 1450). The red and blue letters are very good."