1554. Expositio Beati Ambrosii episcopi super apocalypsin. Lutetiae, 1554; measures 9-1/4 by 6-1/2 inches, and is bound by Berthelet in dark brown calf, tooled in gold, with a few blind lines. In the centre is an ornamental cartouche enclosed within a rectangular border, and bearing the royal coat of arms of Queen Mary, crowned, and flanked by two scrolls; this is enclosed by a circle of wavy flames, and again by an outer irregularly shaped border of curves, straight lines, and arabesques. The space between the flamed circle and the outer arabesque line is filled with a powdering of small circular stamps.
The rectangular outer border is composed of straight lines in gold and blind, with centre fillet of an ornamental circular stamp crossed with arabesques of Italian character. The inner corners of the rectangle are filled with a trefoil stamp and the outer corners with an ornamental fleuron. There are the remains of two green silk ties on the front edge of each of the boards. The book is not in a good condition, the back having been entirely spoiled and tooled with recent stamps.
1555. Epitome omnium operum divi Aurelii Augustini, etc. Coloniae, 1549; measures 12-1/2 by 8-1/4 inches, and is bound in brown calf, tooled in gold, with some blind lines. In the centre is the royal coat of arms of Queen Mary, crowned, and flanked by two arabesque curves, contained within a circle stained black, with waved rays of gold issuing outwards. The coat is enclosed by a long upright rectangular fillet stained black, interlaced by another in diamond shape of similar width, also stained black. The spaces within these two fillets are filled with gold curves and arabesques, except the two small triangles flanking the centre, which have the initials M R.
The black fillets are enclosed by a double border; the inner one, broken in four places by the points of the diamond, is thickly ornamented with corner fleurons and arabesque scrolls, the outer closely filled with a handsome arabesque made with two reversed curves. Outside all is another black rectangular fillet, with fleurons at the outer corners.
This is one of the finest calf bindings Berthelet made for Queen Mary, and it is wonderfully well preserved, the leather being only a little discoloured and the gold bright and clear. The black on the fillets is also in good condition.