This initial, together with another one (E.306-2017) was cut out of a mid 15th-century Rhenish choir book. In the 19th century, they belonged to George Ashdown Audsley (1838-1925), a Scottish author-architect-calligrapher, who produced copies of them (E.304-2017).
He probably made these copies especially for the 1876 Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts in Liverpool, organised by the Liverpool Art Club Audsley was a member of. In the exhibition catalogue, the ensemble was described as a ‘FRAME, containing two initials cut from Choral Books of the 14th century. Alongside the ancient letters are modern restorations, showing the original state of the colours’ (Liverpool Art Club's Exhibition of Illuminated Manuscripts, no. 147). The initials were framed and exhibited together with the medieval manuscript cuttings, in a bid to restore the medieval initials to what Audsley perceived was their original state, devoid of fading, blemishes or staining incurred over time. While Audsley adhered faithfully to the size and pattern of his medieval models, he used brighter colours, gave the contours a crisper and more linear outline, and completely eliminated the text.
George Ashdown Audsley was a Scottish author-architect-calligrapher. He established with his brother William James (1833-1907) the architectural firm Audsley & Co., later known as W. & G. Audsley. The brothers were responsible for a great number of Gothic Revival and eclectic style public buildings mainly in the Liverpool area and London. George and William were leading ornamentists who played a key part in the revival of British design initiated by the Great Exhibition of 1851. They wrote extensively on design and architecture using chromolithography to great effect in their books. In 1892 they moved their practice to New York.