A sequence of sixty-three sonnets by William Alabaster from the initial fly-leaves of a beautifully bound copy of a French book of hours (1558). This is the most important manuscript source for these sonnets which were never published in his lifetime, and of which only two other substantial manuscripts remain. The text appears to have been transcribed from another source. For more information see The sonnets of William Alabaster, edited by G.M.

Gold-tooled vellum binding to Johann Kaspar Suicer's Thesaurus ecclesiasticus (Utrecht, 1746), incorporating two sets of arms: one on the front cover with two mottoes, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (the motto of the British Royal family) and "Je maintiendrai" (the motto of the House of Orange); and another without a motto.

An inscription of Philip IV, the Fair or Handsome, Duke of Burgundy (1478-1506) at the end of a 15th-century edition of Virgil. Son of the future Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and Mary of Burgundy, Philip succeeded to his mother's dominions in the Low Countries before marrying Joan, the daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile.

An edition of Cicero's De natura deorum edited with a commentary by Pierre Lescalopier, with a decorated binding produced for Louis XIV of France. Note the French Royal badge in the centre, and the repeating crowned 'L' motif surrounding it.

Two gilt bookstamps bearing the arms of James I & VI, the first from a Geneva Bible (1582) and the second from three volumes of Boissard's

This English translation of Boccaccio's tragedies is signed by John, Lord Lumley (d. 1609), one time High Steward of Oxford University, later imprisoned for his implication in the Ridolfi Plot to overthrow Elizabeth I and replace her with Mary, Queen of Scots.

An ornate binding bearing Queen Elizabeth I's arms to a volume which contains Edward VI's copy of Erasmus's Institutio principis Christiani (1529).

An inscription to Queen Elizabeth I from Tobias Matthew, Bishop of Durham, later Archbishop of York and a key figure in Elizabeth's church establishment, found at the front of an ornately decorated copy of Precationes aliquot celebriores e sacris Bibliis desumptae (Paris, 1544).

One of Elizabeth I's badges (a crowned falcon holding a sceptre) stamped in gilt on an edition of Valerius Maximus (1544), which she used in memory of her mother Anne Boleyn because it was used at her coronation. Given by Peter Gunning.