For centuries, a unassuming leather-bound volume sat quietly on the shelves of a family library in a Leicestershire manor house, its royal secrets shielded by the passage of time. To the casual observer, it was merely an old book of history; to the trained eye, it was a ghost of the Tudor court.

Today, that volume—a 1555 edition of Polydore Vergil’s Anglica Historia—has emerged as one of the most significant artifacts of 16th-century intellectual history. Once held in the personal collection of Mary I, England’s first queen regnant, the book contains a series of hand-drawn maps that represent a defiant assertion of English sovereignty during a period of national trauma. Now, after being rediscovered in 2024, the volume is heading to the market with a staggering price tag of $1.6 million.

Main Facts: A Rare Convergence of History and Cartography

The artifact in question is far more than a mere chronicle. It is a bespoke composite of text and imagery, specifically tailored for the Tudor monarch. The book, a third edition of Polydore Vergil’s seminal history of England, is encased in a luxurious binding attributed to the "Medallion Binder," a master craftsman active in the Tudor court during the mid-16th century. The cover is emblazoned with Mary I’s personal monogram and her royal coat of arms, marking it indisputably as a piece of her private library.

However, the true treasure lies within the flyleaves: four custom-made, hand-drawn maps of the British Isles and English continental holdings. These maps include depictions of England, Scotland, Ireland, and the territories along the English Channel. According to Barry Lawrence Ruderman Antique Maps, the California-based dealership offering the book, these are among the earliest known specimens of their kind.

The sale, scheduled for the New York International Antiquarian Book Fair on April 30, represents a meteoric rise in the book’s valuation. In September 2024, the volume was sold at auction for approximately $237,000 (£168,000). The current $1.6 million asking price reflects the dealership’s belief that the book is "perhaps the most significant artifact of Tudor intellectual history still in private hands."

Chronology: From the Queen’s Hands to a Leicestershire Manor

The journey of this volume spans nearly five centuries, tracing the rise and fall of the Tudor dynasty and the quiet preservation of its relics.

1555–1558: The Queen’s Reign and the Loss of Calais

The book was produced during the final years of Mary I’s reign. The text itself, Anglica Historia, was originally commissioned by Mary’s grandfather, Henry VII, to provide a definitive history of the English people. This 1555 edition was published posthumously and contains updates relevant to the Tudor succession.

Crucially, the maps bound into the volume are dated as late as 1558. This was a year of profound grief for the Queen. In January 1558, the port city of Calais—England’s last remaining foothold on mainland Europe—fell to the French after a devastating siege. Mary is famously (though perhaps apocryphally) said to have claimed that the word "Calais" would be found engraved on her heart after her death. The maps in this book, however, tell a story of defiance: they depict the St. George’s flag still flying over Calais, a "cartographic assertion of sovereignty" that ignored the reality of military defeat.

1558–1750: Inheritance and the Fortescue Family

Following Mary’s death in November 1558, the book entered a period of transition. Researchers offer two primary theories on its provenance. One suggests that Mary bequeathed the volume to her lady-in-waiting, Anne Rede, who then passed it to her son, Sir John Fortescue. Another theory posits that Mary’s successor, Elizabeth I, inherited the book and later gifted it to Fortescue, who served as her tutor and was a noted intellectual of the era. Regardless of the exact path, the volume remained within the extended Fortescue family for generations.

1750–2024: The Long Sleep at Bosworth Hall

In the mid-18th century, the book arrived at Bosworth Hall in Leicestershire. There it remained, overlooked and uncatalogued, for nearly 300 years. It wasn’t until 2024 that Peter Leech, a musicologist from Cardiff University specializing in the cultural history of British Catholicism, identified the volume during a survey of the manor’s library. Leech recognized the distinctive "Medallion Binder" style and the royal insignia, realizing he had stumbled upon a primary relic of the Tudor monarchy.

Supporting Data: The Sympathetic History of Catherine of Aragon

Beyond its royal ownership, the 1555 edition of Anglica Historia holds deep emotional resonance for Mary I because of its content. Polydore Vergil’s account of the reign of Henry VIII was notably sympathetic to Mary’s mother, Catherine of Aragon.

During the "Great Matter"—Henry VIII’s long and bitter attempt to annul his marriage to Catherine—Mary was declared illegitimate and stripped of her titles. She remained fiercely loyal to her mother and the Catholic faith, often at great personal risk. Vergil’s history describes Catherine as "wonderfully armed with true patience" and includes a likely fictitious but deeply moving deathbed letter from Catherine to Henry, pleading for him to be a "good father" to Mary.

For a Queen whose youth was defined by the trauma of her parents’ divorce and the subsequent religious upheaval of the Reformation, owning a history that vindicated her mother’s character was a matter of profound personal and political importance. The volume served as both a source of comfort and a tool of legitimacy.

Official Responses: Expert Insights on the Discovery

The rediscovery has sparked excitement among historians and collectors alike. Linda Porter, a leading biographer of Mary I, emphasizes that the volume challenges the one-dimensional view of the monarch often found in popular history.

"Mary was a highly educated woman, a true Renaissance princess, with command of the classics and several modern languages and a keen interest in exploration and cartography," Porter noted. She added that the atlas provided Mary with a clear sense of her dominions, offering a "more positive depiction of English power and influence" than the often-grim reality of her reign.

Alex Clausen, president and co-owner of Ruderman Antique Maps, highlights the cartographic innovation contained within the pages. "Before this period, there was no series of maps covering England and Scotland and Ireland together," Clausen explains. He argues that by treating these distinct territories as a collective whole, the maps actually anticipate the expansion of the British Empire that would occur under Mary’s sister, Elizabeth I.

Clausen further justified the high price tag by noting the rarity of the object. "We were willing to pay a substantially higher amount of money than what we ended up paying at auction [in 2024], because it was just totally unlike anything that we have seen in decades."

Implications: Redefining "Bloody Mary" and the Future of the Artifact

The emergence of this book has significant implications for both the art market and the historical study of the Tudor period.

Reassessing Mary I’s Reputation

Historically, Mary I has been remembered primarily through the lens of the "Bloody Mary" myth—a nickname earned by the execution of approximately 280 Protestants during her reign. However, modern scholarship, bolstered by finds like this volume, is beginning to paint a more nuanced picture. The book showcases Mary as an intellectual patron and a ruler deeply engaged with the visual and geographic representation of her power. It highlights a woman who was a "Tudor trailblazer," as biographer Anna Whitelock puts it, navigating the unprecedented challenges of being England’s first female king.

The Legal Hurdle: The Export Ban

The future of the book remains uncertain due to its status as a national treasure. The volume is currently under a UK export ban. This means that while a foreign collector can purchase the book, they cannot remove it from the United Kingdom unless they can prove that no British institution is willing or able to match the price to keep the artifact in the country. This legal mechanism is designed to prevent the "brain drain" of cultural heritage, ensuring that items of significant national importance remain accessible to British scholars and the public.

A Masterpiece of Tudor Intellectualism

Ultimately, the $1.6 million volume is a testament to the enduring fascination with the Tudor era. It represents a rare moment where personal biography, national history, and the birth of modern cartography intersect. Whether the book finds a home in a private collection or a national museum, its rediscovery ensures that Mary I’s intellectual legacy will no longer be "overlooked and underappreciated" in the shadows of her more famous relatives.