| Description | A book of swan marks from Lincolnshire, indicating grants from the Crown and kept by the Queen's swanherd. The marks illustrated within the volume were incised in the beaks of the birds by a knife. The name 'John Towneley' is written on the flyleaf, possibly the book collector John Towneley FRS (1731-1813) who may have donated it, perhaps as a record of his own family. Internal evidence, notably the presence of the future Archbishop of Canterbury John Whitgift (c.1530-1604) as Dean of Lincoln (office held 1571-1577) provides information to date the book, which must have been kept during the reign of Elizabeth I. |