| This work concerns books and manuscripts owned by Henry VII, the first Tudor king. The collection, although much decimated by time and taste, can nevertheless illuminate England and her king at the cusp of the Early Modern era. Henry used the contents of his library as tools, to create a cultural image within a European context; the texts were also personal possessions, reflective of Henry's preferences. Like other European monarchs, he used manuscripts and books as agents; not the least important aspect of this agency extends social meaning to the contents and images. Henry and his nobility manipulated the texts, along with their visual qualities to 'bend the horses of praise'. The phrase describes one important use of the manuscripts, which were sometimes used to obsequiously flatter the recipient, to gain or retain social standing. However, works in the King's library display other types of manipulation. Henry commissioned manuscripts and patronized the printed book for more political ends: to display the mythic and historic position of his rule, show his cultural acumen, establish a sophisticated persona, and ingratiate an English cultural presence into a European context. Even beyond public manipulation of texts, Henry's library contents reflect his life and personality. Like other book owners, he purchased works that apparently held personal interest for him, books that reflected his individual history and character. Further, the very presence of the library institution itself, is reflective of Henry's manipulation of cultural enterprise to create public and courtly personae that supported his political ambitions. While Henry was not a great bibliophile in the same sense as that renowned English bibliophile, Edward IV, Henry's campaign of acquisition, led by his librarian, was one in which we find the seeds of the great English libraries of later centuries. Through those texts which remain Henry's role as the founder of the Tudor dynasty, and his position vis-a-vis contemporaneous European rulers, may be re-evaluated. We can also more fully reconstruct the cultural, political, and literary milieu of the first Tudor. |
