CHRIS KOENIG joined the queues for a peep into a Tudor Christmas on view at at the Bodleian Library

Apt somehow that the first manuscript on view at this year's Bodleian exhibition, on the theme of a Tudor Christmas, should be a Book of Hours. By the time I reached the exhibit (on my way to see the handiwork of the 11-year-old future Queen Elizabeth I) I had been pondering the unhurried pace of life of Tudor children for almost an hour - while shuffling along in the queue and wondering whether my own hour at a parking meter had expired yet.

But the eyefull of the Princess's work was worth the risk of a modern-day fine. It consisted of a book called The Mirror or Glass of the Sinful Soul, all written in Elizabeth's best italic handwriting as a present to her stepmother, Queen Katherine Parr.

Amazingly, the child not only copied out the (presumably) none too cheerful verse by Queen Marguerite d'Angouleme of Navarre, but she also translated it from the French! And then she worked the beautiful binding of the book in silver and gold knotwork, incorporating the initials KP on each cover.

Strictly speaking, the exhibition portayed a Tudor Winter, rather than just Christmas, and it seems that present-giving in those days happened on New Year's Day rather than Christmas Day. Elizabeth's present to Queen Katherine, for instance, was given on the first day of 1545 with wishes for "perpetual felicity and everlasting joy".

Considering that Katherine was her father's sixth and last wife, he having had the heads chopped off two previous wives including that of her own mother, Anne Boleyn, such wishes might have seemed daring - though, of course, Katherine did in fact survive.

But then again, so ever-present was the Christian belief in life everlasting that the child was probably being nothing less than totally sincere when she penned the note.

The exhibition, now held for one day only in December each year, is designed to advertise the Bodleian's collection and to show the public at large how many of its treasures have been reproduced and may, of course, now be bought as Christmas presents, or cards, from the ever- expanding Bodleian shop.

The Bodleian acquired The Mirror or Glass of the Sinful Soul in 1729. Other amazing manuscripts on view this year included a sermon for Elizabeth's half-brother King Edward VI, translated from the Latin by Elizabeth and dedicated thus: "I pray God that your Majesty may see many new and happy years."

It is dated December 30 but she neglected to write the year. The exhibition notes suggest that it could have been 1546 when the ten-year-old king is known to have paid Elizabeth's servant 54s 4d for delivering a present, or, judging by the handwriting, it could have been 1552/3 when she was 19 and her brother 14 - in which case the message is poignant since it would have been the boy-king's last New Year.

As for the modern rush and angst that Christmas brings, perhaps it was ever thus, at any rate in royal circles. Gifts were formally exchanged between monarch and subject and it was important to pitch the value of your present correctly in order to show loyalty. A gift roll was kept to ensure exactly who had given what. For instance, also in the exhibition, was a printed English bible given to Queen Elizabeth on New Year's Day, 1584, by printer Christopher Baker. In return the Queen gave him gilt plate weighing 11 oz.

As for that Book of Hours: it depicts one activity for December as snowball fighting! Rare in December these days, though I suppose we can always hope for a White Christmas. And no, I didn't get that ticket.