Biographical dates - Period of existence1471 - 1757
Other InformationThe Royal collection founded by King Edward IV (1471) and given to the British Museum in 1757. In the British Museum the books were usually marked with octagonal stamps with the script 'MVSEVM BRITANNICVM'; three stamps were used, more often the ones identified by P.R. Harris as {1b} and {1c}, less often with the stamp {1a}. The Ink was blue, but occasionally it looks black. A shelfmark of the first series of Montagu House is not always present, while the shelfmark of the second series is on the top right corner of the titlepages. In Montagu House the books from the Old Royal Library were arranged according to the reign in which there were published, and if they were rebound after they entered the BM, they had embossed on the spines the symbols of the royalty: rose and crown. Those belonging to particular collections were also lettered on the spines to indicate their origin (see P.R. Harris, in Libraries within the Library, pp. 387-403, particularly 392-394 (the Old Royal Library), and 417 for the stamps) [A. Panzanelli].
Biographical dates - Period of existence1471 - 1757
Other InformationThe Royal collection founded by King Edward IV (1471) and given to the British Museum in 1757. In the British Museum the books were usually marked with octagonal stamps with the script 'MVSEVM BRITANNICVM'; three stamps were used, more often the ones identified by P.R. Harris as {1b} and {1c}, less often with the stamp {1a}. The Ink was blue, but occasionally it looks black. A shelfmark of the first series of Montagu House is not always present, while the shelfmark of the second series is on the top right corner of the titlepages. In Montagu House the books from the Old Royal Library were arranged according to the reign in which there were published, and if they were rebound after they entered the BM, they had embossed on the spines the symbols of the royalty: rose and crown. Those belonging to particular collections were also lettered on the spines to indicate their origin (see P.R. Harris, in Libraries within the Library, pp. 387-403, particularly 392-394 (the Old Royal Library), and 417 for the stamps) [A. Panzanelli].