In the early 1990s, when David Starkey began the project to edit the 1547 inventory of King Henry VIII, in addition to attending to the production of one of the most valuable resources available to historians of Tudor material culture, the transcript of the inventory itself, he assembled a team of experts in a wide variety of fields to interpret and analyze for a modern audience the vast quantities of stuff listed among the king’s moveable possessions. The transcript appeared in 1998 and its impact on Tudor scholarship was immediate. The present text, the first of three commentary volumes to appear, is, admittedly, long awaited, but certainly worth the wait. It analyzes and contextualizes the tapestries, items of clothing, tents, carpets, linens, furs, and many other types of textile object listed in Henry VIII’s posthumous inventory.

Maria Hayward, who assumed the editorship of the commentary volumes, contributes the introduction and two chapters to the present volume. Her analysis of the articles of Henry’s clothing described in the inventory is precise and revealing. Hayward explains the types, style, and expense of dress worn by the king, especially in the 1540s; these are the items that would, naturally, still have been in the household at his death in 1547 rather than older items that may have been given away or grown out of. In her second chapter, Hayward writes on tents and the textiles used in court revels. In these two chapters we begin to see that Henry’s investment in his appearance (personal and more broadly) placed him on a par with any of his Continental contemporaries and competitors. This becomes a theme taken up by a number of the contributors. In fact, Thomas Campbell’s chapter on the king’s rich collection of tapestries argues that Henry VIII outshone his rivals in his acquisition of tapestries. Here Campbell expands on ideas published in his well-known book Henry VIII and the Art of Majesty: Tapestries at the Tudor Court (2007) and makes a further contribution to the recognition of Henry VIII’s investment in the trappings associated with power and consumption.

The book is characterized by authoritative, informative analyses by scholars who substantially illuminate their specialist fields for the nonspecialist. Lisa Monnas contributes two such chapters: the first on the range and variety of cloth identified in the inventory, from silk, velvet, damask, and cloth of gold all the way down to canvas and fustian, with a valuable discussion of the ways in which different types of cloth made their way into England. Her second chapter is a careful study of the liturgical cloths and vestments listed among the royal possessions. Santina Levey surveys the embroidered objects in the royal household, items such as cloths of estate, beds, cushions, and wall hangings, as well as more small-scale personal objects like gloves, handkerchiefs, covers for prayer books, and comb cases. Her chapter points to the practice of needlework by women, even royal women, including Anne of Cleves and Henry’s daughters Mary and Elizabeth. This chapter, like the volume overall, is lavishly illustrated with photographs of extant objects. Donald King’s chapter on carpets and other coverings for tables, cupboards, window seats, and floors is a fascinating and informative account of the types of textiles in abundance in the inventory. Toward the end of his chapter King helpfully identifies the carpets depicted in a number of well-known Tudor portraits. And Elspeth Veale’s chapter “From Sable to Mink,” similarly clarifies what types of furs are not only present in the inventory, but explains what we are looking at when we see representations of fur in specific Tudor portraits.

It is fair to say that few other fields of study are as fortunate to have both the primary material and the specialist expertise to illuminate the past in such a way. We very much look forward to the publication of the next two volumes in this series.