James VI and I 1566-1625

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James VI and I, 1566-1625

Biographical Note

Son of "[family" contains a listed "[" character as part of the property label and has therefore been classified as invalid.; King of Scotland from 1567 and of England 1603-1625, succeeding Elizabeth I. He married Anne of Denmark in 1589, who gave birth to their first son, Prince Henry, in 1594 and to Prince Charles, future king of England, in 1600. James authored various works, including Daemonologie (1597) and Basilikon Doron (1599), and commissioned the King James Bible. He is noted for his commitment to peace policy, love of hunting, and interest in witchcraft.

Books

George F. Warner estimates that by 1578 James’ personal library held around 600 volumes, a number that continued to grow as he accumulated part of his mother’s library and books that his tutors bought for him. James acquired the library of John Lord Lumley in 1609, which he kept in a purpose-built room at St James’s Palace. James’ personal library includes books on hunting and hawking, witchcraft, tobacco, and the affairs of the Palatinate. He collected ephemera and was the first monarch to collect printed dossiers, including all books written by those who wrote against him. Birrell writes that the study of James’ library is ‘an essential adjunct to the study of the monarch himself’. He gave 228 books to St Andrews University, founding the King James Library there in 1612.

Characteristic Markings

British Armorial Bindings holds 35 examples of books with James’ stamps, but the presence of royal armorial binding does not necessarily point to royal ownership, and some of the stamps are noted to have also been used by Charles I and Charles II. He annotated a copy of the first English edition of his book on the Oath of Allegiance. C.45.d.230 (I).

Sources

  • British Armorial Bindings.
  • The library of James VI, 1573-1583, from a Manuscript in the hand of Peter Young, his tutor. Ed. with introduction and notes, by George F. Warner.
  • Birrell, T. A. English monarchs and their books, London, 1987. Maggs 1272 (1999)/12.
  • Durkan, J. & Ross, A. Early Scottish Libraries (Glasgow: John S. Burns, 1961).
  • Jayne, S. Library catalogues of the English renaissance. Godalming, 1983.
  • Wormald, Jenny. "James VI and I (1566–1625), king of Scotland, England, and Ireland." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
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