Henry VIII, King of England
(1491-1547)

Thys Boke Is Myne Prynce Henry

Marcus Tullius Cicero. Commentú familiare in Ciceronis officia. Lyon, Etienne Gueynard, 1502.

One of the most celebrated association copies in the Folger collection is Henry VIII's schoolboy text of Cicero, which bears the inscription, Thys Boke is Myne Prynce Henry.

Further annotations in the book are partly in the prince's hand but the interlinear glosses, notes, and short poem on the title page appear to be in the hand of Henry's tutor, the poet John Skelton (1460-1529). Young Henry would have been expected to learn Latin at an early age, progressing from basic grammar to reading classical authors such as Cicero.

The Folger acquired the volume in 1961 for only £825.

Henry VIII from V.b. 232
©

A Royal Binding?

King Henry VIII, King of England. A copy of the letters, wherin the most redouted [and] mighty pri[n]ce, our souerayne lorde kyng Henry the eight…made answere vnto a certayne letter of Martyn Luther…. London, Richard Pynson, [1527?].

When is a royal binding not an association copy?

This copy of Henry VIII's correspondence with Martin Luther shows Henry's Royal Arms in the upper right panel, with a large Tudor rose beneath it. Yet we have no evidence that Henry actually owned this book. While the text is printed "cum priuilegio" by Richard Pynson, printer to the King, the book was bound by John Reynes, a London binder who owned five pairs of panels and this one, with Henry's arms, was the one he used most often.