My book titled, Certain most godly, fruitful, and comfortable letters of such true saintes and holy martyrs of God, as in the late bloodye persecution here within this realme, gaue their lyues for the defence of Christes holy gospel: written in the tyme of theyr affliction and cruell imprysonment has a very straight forward audience considering it is a religious text. Throughout this blog post I will touch base on the two different men that left a book plate in the front cover of the book and the status that they had during their lives. Along with this, I will be considering the reasons that these men were able to get this book as well as why they would want it in the first place. Lastly, I will discuss the possible price of the book and my reasoning behind it. 

 

The first thing that stands out is that this book would be used in the religious world whether it be a priest, bishop or a devout follower of religion in general. These people would already have a prior knowledge of the Bible and would be able to make these connections far quicker than the general public. The next group of people that would find great interest in this book would be scholars. In this situation scholars would be able to learn more about the Bible through the vast amount of references as well as learn about the different men mentioned in the book itself.

 

Miles Coverdale, who was not only a Bible translator but a preacher and Bishop made this book with countless references to the Bible. This led me to believe that it should be used concurrently with a Bible while you are reading it in order to understand these references. Due to the style in which this book was written I believe that it was intended to be owned by not only high religious figures but people with great intelligence as well. There are two book plates present on the inside cover of my book belonging to Charles William Hampton Sotheby and Boies Penrose II. Both of these men were not active in the religious world but were very notable figures apart of well known families. Sotheby, who came from a long lineage of noble men, was a high sheriff of Northamptonshire in 1881. He scribed his initials and the date of 1863 above his book plate, indicating the year in which he received the book. Although it is unknown how he received the book it is possible that it was passed down to him from the generation prior as a gift. 

 

Penrose was also a well known figure from Pennsylvania who came from a lineage of noble, intelligent men. After graduating from Harvard in 1884 he went on to become a prominent politician in Pennsylvania for the remainder of his life. Although he was not known to have a part in the religious world at the time I can assume this book was used to flaunt his wealth.

 

I find it rather interesting that there are no well known religious figures who have left their mark in this book. Perhaps they felt it was wrong to be writing on a religious text that was supposed to hold such great meaning. Although there must have been a handful of owners between Sotheby and Penrose they are the only two that left their mark and they are both extremely wealthy, intelligent men during their respective times. This led me to believe that my book may have also been kept as a status symbol. Perhaps the content of the book was not very important to them but rather keeping it in good condition on display was the driving factor for purchasing or owning the book.

 

Although there is an advertisement present on the inside of the cover page they do not mention the price of the book once. After seeing who had previously owned the book I think it is fair to make the assumption that the price of this book would be rather high and the main suitors of this book would come from a high wealth status. Along with this, I can assume that a book of high religious status would also be rather expensive because the content inside should provide the reader with great knowledge.