While Charles I, the monarch executed by parliament in 1648/9, has traditionally been identified as the author of Eikon Basilike, this has been disputed since John Gauden, Bishop of Worcester, emerged as a probable ghostwriter in the 1690s. It is now thought to have been a collaboration between Gauden and the king.

The book reviews the course of the civil wars from the calling of the Long Parliament in 1640 to Charles's imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle in 1647, and defends the king's policies. As well as being a political memoir it also uses the language of spiritual autobiography, presenting Charles as the defender of both Church and State. 'Eikon Basilike' means 'portrait of the king'. The portrayal of Charles in the text as a moderate, peace-loving ruler transformed opinion of his execution so that it came to be viewed by many as an act of martyrdom.

Despite the government's attempts to suppress the words of the king they had just executed, Eikon Basilike became an immediate best-seller, and was one of the most influential books of the seventeenth century. Its popularity and its scriptural qualities helped to bring about support for the Restoration of Charles II in 1660.

Though small, this luxury binding conveys the high value of Charles I's words to the book's early owner, and the skull, often a feature of the bindings of Eikon Basilike, can be read as an emblem of the king's martyrdom. The value of this book to its early owner has been further enhanced by the insertion of a piece of paper carrying Charles II's signature.