Lady Mary Wroth’s ‘Crowne of Sonnets Dedicated to Love’ is a series of fourteen interlinked poems of fourteen lines each, which formed part of her sonnet sequence Pamphilia to Amphilanthus. The last line of each sonnet forms the first line of the next, with the final poem asking ‘In this strange labyrinth how shall I turn?’, the same question which Wroth uses to open the sequence. The sequence thus makes a complete circle.

‘Corononation of the Virgin’, El Greco, 1591
(Public domain via Wikiart)
Mary Wroth’s ‘Crowne of Sonnets Dedicated to Love’ is less overtly religious in outlook. In Sonnet 13 she dedicates ‘This Crowne, my selfe, and all that I have’ to a ‘Great King of Love‘, who could be her lover, Cupid, Christ or a mixture of all these. Members of the Cinque Ports Scribes, under the coordination of Els Van Den Steen, gave each of the sonnets an artistic interpretation to form the crown. This can now be viewed in Baron’s Hall at Penshurst.
Photos of Els and some of the calligraphers at work
Note: Flipbook best viewed full-screen.
Participating Calligraphers by Sonnet:
- Els Van Den Steen
- Colin Lumsden
- Colin Lumsden
- Julia Baxter
- Rosie Griggs
- Jan Turner
- Mari Bain
- Naoko Munro
- Steve Eades
- Alison Millin
- Steve Eades
- Frances Liddiard
- Rosie Griggs
- Els Van Den Steen
Cinque Ports Scribes was formed in 1992 to cater for those who have a practical interest in Calligraphy and the art of Lettering and Illumination.
If you would like to learn more about the group or, indeed, apply for membership, please visit out website: Cinque Ports Scribes