The embroidery is in coloured silks, silver cords and threads, and
silver guimp. On the upper cover is a small full-length figure of St.
Peter, with short beard, holding a key in his left hand. He is dressed
in a blue under-garment, with red and orange robe over it, all the edges
being marked by a silver twist, some of which has come off. The ground
is green and in hillocks. All this work is done in coloured silks and
silver threads in shading stitch.

On the under side is a figure of St. Paul, with long beard, holding a
silver sword in his right hand. He wears a blue under-garment, with red
and orange upper robe, all edged with silver twist. The feet of both
figures are bare. The rest of the design is the same on both sides. The
skies are worked in large stitches of blue and yellow silk and silver
threads, graduating from dark to light; above these are canopies of
silver thread, couched, and vandyked at the edge. Enclosing the figures
are arches with columns, in high relief in silver cords and threads. The
inner edge of the arch is curiously marked by a line of brown silk
worked over a strip of vellum in the manner used for hand-worked
head-bands, and the outer edge has 'crockets' of silver guimp. The
columns rest upon 'rams-horn' curves, heavily worked in relief with
silver threads, the insides of the curves worked in brown silk over
vellum like the inner edge of the arch.


_Metal Threads used on Embroidered Books._

Guimp and gold threads are largely used, as has already been noticed,
in embroidered books from early times, but on the next specimen of a
canvas-bound book I have chosen for description, dated 1642, a kind of
metal thread occurs which is very curious. It is used at an earlier date