Ferrar, Nicholas ( 1592-1637 )
One of the more interesting figures in the history
of English bookbinding. Ferrar and his relative,
John Collet (as well as Collet's wife and 14
children), and Ferrar's mother, established a
semi-religious community called the English
Protestant Nunnery, at Little Gidding, in
Huntingdonshire, in about 1625. Ferrar employed a
bookbinder, who taught the family the craft, as
well as gilding and the so-called pasting-printing
by means of a rolling press. The members of the
community produced the remarkable "Harmonies" of
the Scriptures, one of which was produced by Mary
Collet for King Charles 1. Some of their bindings
were in gold-tooled leather, some were in velvet
which had a considerable amount of gold tooling,
and one was in red parchment with the center and
corners of each cover ornamented with pieces of
white parchment, pierced and gilded. Some of the
embroidered bindings of this period have also been
attributed to the so-called nuns of Little
Gidding. (50 , 205 )
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