The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul

The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul is a manuscript

Manuscript

A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...

book that was given to Katherine Parr by her stepdaughter, the future Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I of England

Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...

in 1544

16th century in literature

See also: 16th century in poetry, 15th century in literature, other events of the 16th century, 17th century in literature, list of years in literature.-Events:1508...

, when Elizabeth was eleven years old. Elizabeth translated the work from French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

verse into English prose

English literature

English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....

and wrote the manuscript with her own hand, dedicating it with the words From Assherige, the last daye of the yeare of our Lord God 1544 ... To our most noble and vertuous Quene Katherin, Elizabeth her humble daughter wisheth perpetuall felicitie and everlasting joye. Elizabeth probably also embroidered

Embroidery

Embroidery is the art or handicraft of decorating fabric or other materials with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins....

the bookbinding

Bookbinding

Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.-Origins of the book:...

. This book is now owned by the Bodleian Library

Bodleian Library

The Bodleian Library , the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library...

Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr

A second embroidered manuscript book, entitled Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr, is also attributed to Elizabeth as a gift to the queen dated 20 December 1545. It contains prayer

Prayer

Prayer is a form of religious practice that seeks to activate a volitional rapport to a deity through deliberate practice. Prayer may be either individual or communal and take place in public or in private. It may involve the use of words or song. When language is used, prayer may take the form of...

s or meditations the queen had originally composed in English, which the princess had translated into French, Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...

and Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

, handwritten in the princess's hand on vellum

Vellum

Vellum is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on, to produce single pages, scrolls, codices or books. It is generally smooth and durable, although there are great variations depending on preparation, the quality of the skin and the type of animal used...

. The inscription reads "Precationes ... ex piis scriptoribus per nobiliss. et pientiss. D. Catharinam Anglie, Francie, Hibernieq. reginam collecte, et per D. Elizabetam ex anglico converse." It is, moreover, dedicated to Elizabeth's father Henry VIII

Henry VIII of England

Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...

, the wording being, "Illustrissimo Henrico octavo, Anglie, Francie, Hibernieq. regi," etc.

The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul

The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul measures about 7" by 5" and has an identical design on both covers, worked in blue silk

Silk

Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...

in a tapestry

Tapestry

Tapestry is a form of textile art, traditionally woven on a vertical loom, however it can also be woven on a floor loom as well. It is composed of two sets of interlaced threads, those running parallel to the length and those parallel to the width ; the warp threads are set up under tension on a...

stitch over canvas

Canvas

Canvas is an extremely heavy-duty plain-woven fabric used for making sails, tents, marquees, backpacks, and other items for which sturdiness is required. It is also popularly used by artists as a painting surface, typically stretched across a wooden frame...

with interlacing scrollwork of gold and silver

Goldwork (embroidery)

Goldwork is the art of embroidery using metal threads. It is particularly prized for the way light plays on it. The term "goldwork" is used even when the threads are imitation gold, silver, or copper...

braid that joins the queen's initials K.P. in the center. Each corner of the front depicts a heartsease

Heartsease

Viola tricolor, known as Heartsease, is a common European wild flower, growing as an annual or short-lived perennial. It has been introduced into North America, where it has spread widely, and is known as the Johnny Jump Up...

(Viola) in purple, green and yellow silk with gold thread. The back cover is well worn; its corner embroidery is difficult to identify, but was probably floral.

Prayers of Queen Katherine Parr

The second book is smaller than the first, only 5¾" by 4", and is also bound in canvas. The background is red silk worked in a similar stitching method to the Miroir cover. Most of the design is a large monogram

Monogram

A monogram is a motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbols or logos. A series of uncombined initials is properly referred to as a...

in blue silk and silver thread that contains the letters K, A, F, H, and R. The K refers to Katherine and the other letters probably signify Latin initials for rulership (actual or claimed) of England, France

English claims to the French throne

The English claims to the French throne have a long and complex history between the 1340s and the 19th century.From 1340 to 1801, with only brief intervals in 1360-1369 and 1420–1422, the kings and queens of England, and after the Acts of Union in 1707 the kings and queens of Great Britain, also...

and Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

. Like the first book, heartsease flowers decorate the corners. The back cover is worn beyond recognition.

Similarities

Both book dedications declare that the written content is the work of Elizabeth. Although no written record definitively affirms the tradition that Elizabeth also worked these embroideries, experts affirm that both covers are the handiwork of the same craftswoman. They use similar heavy grades of silk and silver thread, with thematically similar motifs and similar stitching. Elizabeth is known to have made and embroidered a shirt for her brother Edward

Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...

when she was six years old. She was an accomplished needlewoman in an era when needlework

Needlework

Needlework is a broad term for the handicrafts of decorative sewing and textile arts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework...

was held in high esteem.

Cyril Davenport particularly notes the canvas covers as evidence that these embroideries were worked in Elizabeth's own hand. Canvas bindings were rare – most of the embroidered work on books of that period were splendid works on velvet
Velvet
Velvet is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed,with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive feel.The word 'velvety' is used as an adjective to mean -"smooth like velvet".-Composition:...

...instead of very elementary braid work. Canvas is easier to embroider than velvet and there could have been little other reason to use a cheap material for a royal gift, except to facilitate a child's handiwork.