Special Collections is highlighting an interesting collection within our Rare Books collection. If you would like to learn about 17th century English politics, banned books, biography and representation, printing, and the power of a text over time, we have a subject guide for you! The Eikon Basilike guide gives an overview of the editions and resources on the Eikon Basilike that are available in the Maryland Room in Hornbake Library.
The Pourtrature of His Sacred Majestie in His Solitudes and Sufferings, more commonly know as the Eikon Basilike, was an autobiography attributed to King Charles I of England. It was published several days after the King was beheaded by Parliament in the aftermath of the English Civil War and painted the former King as a martyr. The frontispiece depicts Charles I the night before his execution and is full of symbolic imagery. The commonwealth government tried to suppress this royalist propaganda, but were ultimately unsuccessful in their efforts to ban the Eikon Basilike.
To view the various editions of Eikon Basilike in Special Collections search our catalog or if you have any questions, please contact us!
Victoria Vera is a graduate student in the Masters of Library and Information Sciences program at UMD and a student assistant in the Literature and Rare Books Collections, Special Collections and University Archives.
Special Collections & University Archives 