Preservation Services

John Taylor (1580-1653)
Verbum Sempiternum
England, 1615

This paraphrase of the Old and New Testaments, known as a Thumb Bible, is bound in delicately embroidered green silk in the dos à dos, or back to back, style. Calligraphist Esther Inglis (1571-1624) wrote out Taylor’s popular printed abridgment in quasi–type facsimile, adding this tender inscription: “To my well-loved sonne Samuel Kello this great little book do I recommend.” As a practicing bookbinder and conservator, I am drawn to the book’s intricate binding structure, embroidered covers, and calligraphic virtuosity.

MS Typ 49, Duplicates Fund, 1949