Page:Elizabethan People.djvu/514

 others were thrown in for effect. Books, however, played a small part in the daily life of the average Elizabethan. The bindings, however, were frequently very beautiful and studded with jewels. Sometimes only the clasp was jewelled, hence rose the custom of putting books on the shelf with the binding next the wall so that the handsome clasp would be visible. A candlestick a little more elegant than those used throughout the rest of the house, an hour-glass, and a globe were other requisites. Also writing materials. Pocket inkstands were in general use. Pens were made of quills. In place of blotting paper scriveners used small boxes of sand pierced like pepper boxes. Perfumery, in so frequent demand elsewhere, was also pressed into service in preparing paper for correspondence. Letters were always sealed with wax; and it was considered bad form for one to deliver his own letter.

"Wives in England," says the Antwerp merchant Van Meteren in 1599 "are entirely in the power of their husbands, their lives only excepted. Therefore when they marry they give up the surname of their father and of the family from which they are descended, and take the surnames of their husbands, except in the case of duchesses,