Henry VIII of England King
King Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon's Book, A Beautiful Blind Tooled 16th Century Binding With Their Arms, Bradley Martin Copy

Rare 16th-century printing of Petrus Lombardus' Sentences, in splendid contemporary panel-stamped calf displaying the arms of King Henry VIII and of his Queen Katherine of Aragon. From the library of renowned collector H. Bradley Martin, with his bookplate.

This characteristic London panel-stamped calf binding has royal arms on both the front and back, the front panel showing the arms of England marshaled with those of Katherine of Aragon supported by two angels, the back panel showing the arms of England with Henry VIII's Tudor emblems supported by the dragon and the greyhound, above the crown is a double rose and two angels bearing scrolls, and dependent from the shield, by chains, are two portcullises. The two panels were always used together until Henry VIII's divorce, after which the latter panel was reworked, replacing Katherine's arms with those of Anne Boleyn. Ironically, the date of this printing of Lombardus' celebrated work of Catholic theology corresponds to Henry's first unsuccessful attempts to end his marriage to Katherine. "The king had already, in May 1527, made one effort to get rid of Katherine by a collusive suit begun in secret before Wolsey; and though this process was shortly after laid aside, he never from that time desisted from the attempt to get his marriage declared invalid, as having been contracted with his deceased brother's wife." Henry did not succeed in divorcing Katherine until 1533. Petrus Lombardus, 12th-century Italian theologian and for a time Archbishop of Paris, is best known for his "Sentences." Probably written between 1155 and 1158 and organized in four books, it is a compilation with commentary of the opinions of earlier theologians. Importantly, Lombardus' doctrine on sacraments elucidated in this work was adopted as the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church at the Council of Trent. By the 13th century the "Sentences" had become the standard medieval textbook of Catholic theology.

The text is gothic letter with woodcut initials; title page printed in red and black, with woodcut printer's device and ornamental border. This printing of the Textus Magistri Sententiarum is listed as held by only one institution in the United States (NUC NP0288706). DNB IX: 534. Davenport, Royal English Bookbinding, 20. Cambridge/Adams P902. Oldham, Blind Panels, HE.3 and HE.4, pl. XV. Bookplate of H. Bradley Martin.

Only a bit of light marginal dampstaining and embrowning at front; text clean and crisp. Minor wear to spine, endpapers renewed. Most handsome and rare Tudor period binding

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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