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ATTRIBUTED TO CHARLES I, KING OF GREAT BRITAIN (1600-49)
Eikon Basilike : the pourtracture of His Sacred Majestie in his solitudes and sufferings : with prayers used in the time of his restraint.
1649RCIN 1192861
The Eikon Basilike (Portrait of the King) is an autobiography written by Charles I in which he recollects the years of the Civil War. The penultimate chapter is dedicated to his eldest son ending with a last farewell 'let My memory ever, with My name, live in you […] Farewell, till We meet, if not on Earth, yet in Heaven’. Although the Commonwealth government attempted to suppress the book, it became the bestseller of its time, spreading the image of Charles I as a just, peace-loving and pious king and giving him the status of a martyr. Thirty-five editions of the Eikon Basilike were issued in the first year of printing alone. Their format is often small, enabling the reader to conceal the book if necessary.
Bibliographic reference(s)
Madan : Madan, F.F., 1950. A New bibliography of the Eikon Basilike of King Charles the First …, London p. 45, n. 3
