The letters JR (or possibly FR) appear on six books, printed between 1564 and 1606, again in a variety of places in mainland Europe such as Leiden, Lyon, Paris, Antwerp and Cologne.
Interestingly, only a few examples of this inscription survive, all written in the same hand, and examples found so far are:
JR10, JR16, JR36, JR55, JR58, JR68
The sequential nature of these inscriptions suggests that initially, there may have been more books with this same inscription, hopefully some that still survive in other collections or libraries! The initials could represent an individual, or an institution, or a motto or phrase: who knows!
Any information that can be provided on these inscriptions could help with developing our understanding of the Cwm library and how it was formed in the first place
I expect you have solved this one by now, but I'd like to suggest John Rudhall (c.1587-1636)MP for Hereford, for the JR intiials. He went to Christ Church Oxford and the Inner Temple. He was carried off by the plague of that year and is buried in a table tomb in Ross Church showing him and Mary his wife in the height of Caroline fashion - worth seeing even if he proves not to be your bibliomane. Good luck Philip Weaver
ReplyDeleteI would like to suggest John Floyd (1574-1649), Jesuit theologian, philosopher and a disputant and controversialist writer on the English mission who wrote under many aliases, including J.R., standing for John Rivers.
ReplyDeleteAndrea Campana
thanks both for these very interesting suggestions!
ReplyDeletebest wishes, Hannah