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16 CHARLES I – GAUDEN, John. Eikōn basilikē [Greek characters]. The pourtraicture of His sacred Maiestie in his solitudes and sufferings. [London: printed by John Grismond for Richard Royston,] 1648 [i.e. 1649] from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown First edition of Charles I’s purported autobiography and deathbed justification for his conduct in the civil war, published in countless surreptitious editions soon after his execution, which helped turn the tide against English republicanism, laying the groundwork for the restoration of the monarchy and of Charles’s cult as the “royal martyr”. The book purports to be Charles’s personal reflections and self-assessment while awaiting the executioner. The true author is generally accepted to be Charles’s chaplain John Gauden, who probably included some authentic writings of the king, and had close access to him in his final days. The book was published on 9 February 1649, ten days after the king’s execution, though with the title page dated to the previous year to imply a lifetime publication. Success was immediate and phenomenal. Within a year the work had been published in some 50 editions in various languages. “Those engaged in the publication were hunted down and imprisoned; but, in spite of every obstacle, the anxiety of the Cavaliers to possess copies of this touching memorial was so great, and the perseverance of the printers so determined, that the work was newly put in type over and over again, and published with a rapidity that has never to this day been equalled” (Almack, p. 3).
The new republican government did all they could to suppress and counter the book, most notably with John Milton’s rebuttal on behalf of the council of state, Eikonoklastes , published in October, which rejected divine right and questioned Charles’s authorship. These efforts were to little avail, and Eikōn basilikē did much to effect the change in public opinion against the republican regime, partly accounting for the republic’s prompt demise on Cromwell’s death, and the public jubilation at the restoration of the monarchy. The book helped establish the status of Charles as a martyr, presenting him as a humble, pious man. After the Restoration Charles was added to the calendar of Anglican saints, with sermons given on the anniversary of his death for the next two centuries. The famous frontispiece presents the king in this image, depicting Charles “in a Christlike apotheosis with purple robe and crown of thorns, kneeling and facing east before a Laudian altar at the top of a trinity of steps and looking intensely up to a crown of glory” ( ODNB ). The first edition is found in three states: this copy is in the third state with sheet G correctly paginated (it is mis-paginated in the first two). Octavo (166 × 98 mm). Late 19th-century half calf by Zaehnsdorf, black calf label, spine gilt in compartments, marbled sides, gilt edges. Double- page engraved plate by William Marshall as frontispiece. Bound without terminal blank. A little rubbed, contents lightly toned with small chips to a couple of leaf corners, generally fresh. A very good copy. ¶ Almack, A Bibliography of The King’s Book or Eikon Basilike , 2 [1 being the first two states]; ESTC R10559; Madan, A New Bibliography of the Eikon Basilike of King Charles the First , 1c; Wing E270. £2,500 [158261]
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