JAMES I; CECIL, Robert.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Declaration of His Maiesties Royall pleasure, in what sort He thinketh fit to enlarge, or reserve Himselfe in matter of Bountie. First edition of this proclamation intended to clarify and restrict royal patronage amid a growing crisis in Stuart finances. This pamphlet is scarce in commerce: we trace no appearances at auction since 1982.Falling revenues from three of the key traditional sources of royal finance - customs, land rents, and parliamentary subsidy - combined with high inflation and a notoriously profligate king, made 1610 a crisis point in the finances of James I's government. His ministers - chiefly Robert Cecil - determined that the Crown would have to request further support from that year's Parliament, which was already concerned that the monarch was behaving in an excessively autocratic manner. To that end, Cecil masterminded the publication of this proclamation, largely drawn up by him and widely known as the Book of Bounty. Given the tendency of Stuart monarchs to grant various royal revenues streams to private subjects, the Book clarifies what were, and what were not, acceptable sources for such grants, with the ultimate objective of ensuring that more royal revenue went to the Crown itself.

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