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CÆ SA R, (G IU N T A , F LO R E N C E , 151 4.)
M P CGC X CIV
T h e Binding o f Book s An Essay in t he Histo ry of Gold-T ooled Bindings
By H e rb e rt P. H or ne
Londo n Kega n Paul, Trenc h, Trü bne r & Co., Ltd. M DC CC XC IV
P re fa c e ‘ L a Reliure est un art tout français.’ Such is the sentence which M. E rne st Thoina n places upon the title-pag e of his admira ble work, Les Relieurs Fran çais ; and which, in a partic ular sense, is abu ndant ly true. In France , alone, has bookbinding been con tinuousl y practised , and encouraged, as a fine art, since the Revival of Lear ning : and in t hat country, alone, does th ere exist any c onsiderable literature upon its histo ry and methods. In this sense, bookbin ding is an art almost peculia r to Franc e : and yet not to France, but to Italy, must be conceded, bot h the in trodu ction of gold- tooling into Europe, and the origin of the taste, which determ ined the natur e of the de signs used upon Euro pean tooled bindings, for nearly a century. Indee d, it might be questioned, whether early Itali an binding s have yet been surpassed in beau ty and decoration, by those of other times or countries : but be this as it may, t he litera ture of the art remains wholly in t he hands of the French. The Italians have neith er collected nor writte n anyt hing considerable upon th is subject ; the Germans, as th eir
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C on te nt s PAGE
CHAPTER I T he Craft of Bin di ng ,
......................................................... i
CHAPT ER II E arly I tal ian B ind ing s ..............................................................54
CHAPTER II I F ren ch Bind ing s ,
................................................................... 96
CHAP TER IV E nglis h Bind ing s,
....................................................................: 59
CHAPTE R V 2 Conclusion , ....................................................................................... °9
Il l us tr a ti o n s PA GE
PL AT E
i. D oublure , ................................................................................... 33 A ‘ Pe tr ar ch / Ven ice, 1532. ii.
F lore ntine Bind ing , ............................................Frontispiece A ‘ C æs ar / pri nte d by Ph ili pp o di Giu nta , 1514*
h i.
IV .
Grol ier ,
for
77
.
.
. . . . Bem bo’s ‘ Gli As ola ni, ’ V enice , 1530.
Bindin g
................................................ 94 de A man uscr ipt of ‘ O no san r.’
F loren tine Bind ing ,
V. Cameo Bind ing , .......................................................................... 94 Bon ini’s ‘ En chi rid ium Gr am m at ic es / Flo ren ce , 1514.
vi. Bindi ng
by
Geofroy T ory,
............................................106
A ‘ Pe tr ar ch / Veni ce, 1525.
vu . Bindin g
by
N icholas È ve ,
........................................ 118
A ‘ H or ac e/ Venic e, 1581. .
.
.1 2 7
ix . Bindi ng for Ségu ier , Bishop of Meaux , A ‘ Po nti fica le.’
.
.
vi n. Bindin g
for
S ir K enel m D igby,
.
His own ‘ Co nfere nce with a Lad y. ’
X. Bind ing
Charles
for
141
i l , ................................................ 191
‘ H isto ria de los Rey es Godos , Burg os, 1582. ✓
.......................................203 xi . Bindi ng by R oger P ayne , ‘ E ur ip id es /C am br id ge , 1694.
XII. Bind ing
by
M r . Cobden Sander son ,
.
.
.
208
She lley’s ‘ A donai s.’ F igu re s i . and 11.
.
9
B O O K B IN D IN G . C H A P T E R I. TH E CRAFT OF BINDIN G.
I f we would under stand a fine art, with that completeness, which its criticism requires, it is neces sary, tha t we should first be acquainted with its various technical methods, especially in so far as these control, and determine, the nature of the design and workmanship employed in its productions. A fine example, not only of the bookbinder ’s, but, also, of every other, art is d irectly th e result of the limita tions imposed upon th e skill and t aste of the workman, by the process o f his craft, and by the materials used in its practice. To appre ciate these limitations in the binder’s art, we must follow the various stages through which a book passes, in his hands ; or, at least, for our prese nt purpose, as many of these as are necessary to the producti on o f fine an d sumptuo us bindings. F old ing .—If the book is in sheets, or ‘quires,’ the first stage, throu gh which it passes, is tha t of folding. This is effected by an instru ment called a folding stick: and great nicety is requisite, or the A
CH AP TE R IL EARLY ITALI AN BINDIN GS.
T he a rt of finishing b ooks in gold tooling had its rise in that general use, which followed the discovery, of printing, towards the close of the fifteenth century. Within the space of a few yea rs, scarcely the quarte r of a century, both of these arts had reached, in Italy, a degree of excellence in fineness and beauty of design, to which they have not a second time attained : but this sudden accomp lishmen t does not appear extra ordin ary in the age, which re alised the perfection of Art, in the masterpiec es of Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo. In tha t culmination of taste and manners, it was not possible, tha t the printing and binding of books, upon which L itera ture in no small measure depends, should remain among the mechanical trades : and yet, once informed by those qualities of design, from which the fineness of an art proceeds, the period of this accomplishmen t was as brief, as its rise had been sudden. Th at criticism, which Michelangelo passed upon a work by II Greco ; remarking, tha t the hour for the death of Art had arrived, since it was not possible for a bette r work, in its kind, to be seen ; was trĂše of the 54
Early Ita lian Bindings
55
whole series and condition of the decorative arts at that time. In other directions, they might hereafter reach an equal excellence ; but it was not possible to carry the manner, in which they were then prac tised, to grea ter perfection : and the justne ss of this criticism is eviden t in the effect, which the influence of Michelang elo himse lf produce d upon the masters, who succeeded him, and who worked according to the tradi tion of his manne r. From the moment, in which he exerc ised his fascination over the world, the histo ry of the decora tive arts is tha t of their grad ual decade nce ; a decadence, which has, in the art of bookb inding , contin ued to the present time, despit e the felicity of the courtly styl es prevalen t in France , for more tha n two centuries. And in the binde r’s art, as in the art of printin g, this gradual decadence was accom panied by a gradu al approac h towards a g rea ter perfe ction of wo rkmanship, t he one dimini shing as the othe r increase d ; until a tec hnical excellenc e has been reache d by c ertain Fren ch bind ers, during the pres ent centur y, beyo nd which it would Such are the chief seem impossible to proceed. characte ristics of the histo ry, which I am abou t to touch upon : nor are the y common only to the arts of print ing and bookbi nding. The origin of th e art of go ld too ling is very obscu re: the method, which seems first to have been em ployed, at Venice, abo ut the time tha t Aldus Manutius establishe d his press in th at city, sup er seded an earlier use of gold in the decor ation of
CHA PTER
III.
FRENCH BINDINGS.
T hat un ique t raditi on of fine binding, which has continued in France, from medieval times to the present day, owes its origin and growth, in no sl ight measure, to the Guild of St. Jea n Latra n, which was early established in th e city of Paris. An elaborate account of this communit y has lately bee n published by M. Erne st Thoinan , in Les Reli eurs Français ; and the records an d other documents, which this writer here collects in illustrat ion of his subject, contain a mass of i nformation relative to the early history of bookbinding in France, to which nothing compar able is to be found in Italy, or in this country. Unlike the other city guilds of Paris, which arose under the control of the ‘prévôt,’ or mayor of Paris ; this of St. Jean Latr an had its origin in th e protection, which the Un i versity extended, at a very ea rly time, to all those, who were engaged in the production and sale of books; the scribes, t he illuminators, the binders, the booksellers. It was from this circumstance, tha t the Parisian statione rs became associated with, a nd settled in, the Quart ier de l’Université. A definite guild, or con fraternity, seems first to have been founded by them, 96
Fre nch Bi nd ing s
<g]
in 1401, when Charles VI., by a c har ter dated is t Jun e, authorise d ‘ Nicol as de Bose, J. Pos tié, H. Mare scot, escrivain s, Jac qu es Ric hie r, enlumineur, J. Chapon, libraire, Guilla ume Desc hamp s et Sim one t Milon, relieurs, à fonde r une confrér ie en l’église Sai nt Andr é des Arc s, sous l’invoca tion de saint Jea n, l’Év ang élis te.’ Th is cha rter was confirmed by Loui s XL , at Chart res, in t he mont h of Jun e, 1467 ; and from this act o f c onfi rma tion , it appear s, tha t the Guild, in common with oth er mediev al guilds, was larg ely of a religio us natu re : one of its chi ef obliga tions, being the cele bra tion of thre e masses ; the first for the Kin g, his p rede cesso rs, and the Univ ersity , the second lor the living, and the third for the deceased, mem bers of the con frat ern ity. Wh en the Guild was orig ina lly foun ded, its memb ers were ‘en gra nt nombre, rich es et oppulenz but the times had chan ged: Paris had becom e impov erishe d ‘ by gre at wars, famines, mor talit ies and oth er pes tile nce s ’ ; and the numbers of the Guild were so dimin ished, tha t Lou is XI ., by this new edict , autho rises the an nual paym ent, hith er to made by each mem ber of the con frat ern ity, to be increase d, in order tha t the exp ens es of the three masses, and the othe r obl igat ion s of th e conf raternity , mig ht be duly defrayed . Th is edict, at the same time , requires, tha t the elec tion of th e officers of the Guild should henc efort h be made su bje ct to the con firma tion of the mayo r of Paris, ‘ qui sera leur con serva teur et gardi en.’ In the yea r 1582, the members of the Guild G
153
Boo kbin ding
other binders comtemp orary with him, the most noted were Pierre Vente, Jean Pierre Jubert, and François Laferté. With the Revolution, fine binding, like every other fine art, was brought, for a time at least, to an abrupt end : and the traditi ons of good workmanship were not revived until the beginnin g of the present century. At first, the celebrated Thouvenin, with Bozérian, Purgold, Lessée, who extolle d his art in verse, and disputed with Dibdin, and later, Bauzonnet, Trautz, Cuzin, Thibaron, Lortic, Niédrée, Duru, and Cape, laid the foundations of the prese nt school of French bookbinding.' Exam ples of the work of Thouvenin, Bauzonnet, and some others may be seen in th e British Museum : while the producti ons of the more recent school may be found well illust rated in M. Octave Uzanne’s work, La Reliure moderne, artistiqzie el fantaisiste, Paris, 1887. The technic al accomplish ment of this school is very ext rao rdin ary : but its want of invention, of a sense for decoratio n ; in short, of power to understan d, and put to fine uses, the genius of the art, is yet more re markabl e. ‘ Prod uc tions are now possible,’ says Goethe, ‘ which, without being bad, have no value. The y have no value because th ey contain nothing ; and they are not bad, because a general form of good workmanship is present to the autho r’s mind.’
CH A PTER
IV .
ENGLISH BINDINGS.
T h e art of gold -tool ing was not introduced into Eng lan d, until more than ha lf a century after it had been broug ht into use at Veni ce. It appears to have been first employ ed here, in the workshops of Tho ma s Ber the let, the king ’s Pr inter and Stationer , who dwelt ‘ nere to the condit e at the signe of Lucre ce,’ in Fl ee t Str eet . He was t he second after Pynson, who had the honour of bein g made k ing’s Pr inter : and his pat ent gran ting him an annual fee of 4I. sterling, in tha t office, is dated 22nd Febr uary , 1530. In Brewer’s St at e Pape rs of He nry VIII ., several documents are to be found calend ared, which relat e to books bound for the king, by Ber the let : but of such evidences, the most impo rtant is a bill of his, for proclam ations printed, books bound, and stat ione ry supplied to the king ’s use, during the years, 1541, I5 4 2 > a n ^ 1543Att ach ed to the bill, which is in the form of a paper book of twelve leaves, is a warran t under the sign manua l of Hen ry VIII ., addressed to Sir Edward North , the treasur er of the Court of Augm entatio ns, dire cting payme nt to be made to Ber the let of ‘ the Som me o f one hundred Seve nten e poundes six e pence 159
CHA PTER V CONCLUSIO N.
FINEM loquen di par iter omnes audiamus. The art of bookbindi ng depends, therefore, as I have endeav oured to show, upon a prolonged series of minute parti cula rs ; the whole of which must be manage d with tas te and skill, if the binder would produc e a fine, and accomplished, work. Of these parti cular s, those, which relate to tha t part of his craft techni cally k nown as ‘ forwarding,’ are of greater import ance, tha n those, which relate to the more attra ctiv e process of ‘finishing.’ Forwar ding is the struc ture óf book bind ing ; while finishing is merely the decorati on o f th at s tructure . The first and funda mental conditio n of good forwardin g is beyond the control of the binder, and consists in a pr oper choice of th e pape r u pon which the book is printed . Unless the substan ce of the pape r has been determin ed by the size and numb er of the quires, which is rarel y the case of modern editions, it is impossible to bind a book in a prope r manner. A book, of which the pap er has allowed it to be well forwarded, should be solidly pressed, but not crushed or killed in the o
IN D E X . A cla nd T ro yt e , M r., quo ted , 189. Act of 1533, 168. Aldu s Man utius , 58-68, 73, 75-77* Ann e of A ust ria, 144. Arun del, Ea rl of, 177Asulan us, Fran ciscu s, 73* B ac ki ng , 17-23. Badi er, Flo rim önt , 134-142. Bagford , Jo hn , x. Balla gny, 99. Band s, 8. Barb anço n, Mari e, 126. Bar ker, C., 172. Bar ker, R. , 179. Bate man , J. and A. , 179. Bauc hart , M. , quo ted, xii, 109. Bauz onnet , 158. Beatin g, 4. Bedf ord, F. , 207. Berri , Mad ame de, 151. Ber the let, T ., 160-165. Blind -tool ed Ven etia n bind ings , 56 ,5 7. Boa rds, 24. Boleyn, Ann e, 174. Boo t-gi ldin g, 99. Bow man , F ., 190. Boye r, L. A. , 145-148, 157. Bozé rian, 158. Bra del, A. P., 157. Bur leig h, Lo rd, 167, 178. C ae sa r , Sir Jul ius , 183. Cam eo bin din gs, 91-94. Can eva ri, De me trio , 92, 93. Cap e, 158. Casing , 2.
Casse l, E ., 194. Caw ood, J ., 172. Cecil, W. See Bur leig h. Ch apm an, 198. Cha rles I., 182. Cha rles II. , 191-193. Cha rles ix ., 115. Ch astr e, Ga spa rde de la, 126. Chu rch ill, W ., 194. Cla rk, 207. Clo th bin din gs, 44. Co bde n San der son , M r., xi, 207, 208, 212, 216, 217. Co lbe rt, 119. Co llat ion , 3. Cosi n, Bp ., 194. Co ttag e style , 192, 195-196. Cov erin g, 40. Cov erly , Ro ger de, 42. Cra che rod e, M r., 203. Cu ttin g, 28, 30. Cuzin, 158. D ay , Jo hn , 173, 174. De nte lle b ord ers , 155. De rom e, J. A. , 157, 214. De rom e, N. D. (L ej eu n e) , 157. Di ane de Poi tier s, 108-114. Dig by, Sir Ke nel m, 127. Do ublu res, 47, 146, 155. Dou ceu r, L , 156. Dr oh et, G. , 121. Dub ois, G., 145, 148. Dub ois, L. J. , 151. Dub uiss on, B. B ., 156. Du din , M. , viii, ix. Dud ley, R. See Le ices ter, Ea rl of. Du ru, 158. Du Seuil, A. , 128, 148-153.
Index E dges, decoration of, 21-27. Edward VI., 163-165. Edward s of Halifax, 206. Elizabeth , Queen, 66, 174, 175. Eliot, 198. End-pa pers, 12. English bindings, Chap. IV. Eve, Clovis, 20, 121. Eve, Nicholas, 20, 116-121. Evelyn, John , 193, 194.
223
Hentzner, P., 174. Hering, C., 206. Hollis, T., 198. Hollow backs, 18-19. Howard, Lord, 178. Hoym, Count d’, 154. Hutchinson, H. , 194. I. D. P., 173. Inlaid bindings, English, 197. ----- French, 155, 156. Interla ced fillets, 70. Itali an bindings, Chap. 11.
F an style, 196. Ferra r, N., 183-190. Finishing, 48-53. Fitzalan, H. See Arunde l, Earl J ames i ., 178-181. of. Jansenist bindings, 146. Fletcher, W. Y ., Mr., xi. Jaugeon, M., ix. Floren tine binders, 94. Jube rt, J. P., 158. Jugge, R., 172. Folding, I. Forei gn binders in Engl and, 170, K alth oebe r, 206. 171. Kathe rine de Medicis, i n , 115, . n i n, Fouca net, Jeha 116, 121. Françoi s I., 102-104. Franço is IL, 115. L acing , 25, 27. French bi ndings, Chap. ill . Laferté, F., 158. Lauwrin, Marc, 87-88. Gafor us , F. , 71. Gauffecourt, J. V. Capron nier Leathers , 40-45. Le Faulcheur, 103-104. de, ix. Le Gascon, 2, 134-142, 215. Gauffered edges, 32-33. Leicester, Earl of, 177. George i n ., 196. Mire, C., 145, 148. Le Gibson, J ., 179. Monnier, J . C. H. , 156, 214.. Le Gillede, J. , 139. Roux de Lincy, quoted, xi, Le Gilt edges, 31-33. 2 7 * Giunta, Philippo di, 61, 63. Lessée, 158. Gold to oling, origin of, 55_S^j Lewis, Charles, 206. Grafton, R., 163, 172. Libraires-relieurs, 100. Grolier, Jean , life, 70-74* Grober bindings, 11, 69, 74"82, Linde, A., 196. Littl e Gidding books, 183-190. H3> I 33* Lomenie, L. H. de, 149, i5°> ïS2 * Gruel, M., quoted, xii, 137« Guild of St. Jea n Latr an, 96-102. Longepierr e, Baron de, 147, 210. Lortic, 158. Louis x i., 97H an ne tt , John, x. XII ., 102. Louis Harle ian style, 198. Louis XIV., 143Head- bandi ng, 37-40. Louis de Lorraine, 117. Henr i II., 108-114. Louvet, J. , n i . Henr i HL, 117, 118. quoted, 211. Lydgate, Henr i IV., 124. Henr y v in ., 160-163. Henry, Prince of Wales, 177, 181. | Maiolu s, T homas, 82-87. 1
Book bind ing
22 4
Ma llar d, O., 108. Ma rbli ng, 14. Mar gue rite de Valois , 123, 124. Ma rkin g-u p, 5, 23. Maxw ell, S ir Wil liam St irli ng- , 42. Mary, Quee n of E ng lan d, 166. Mary , Queen of Scots , 115. Mear nes, S., 191-193. Met taye r, P. , 122. Mich el, MM. Mariu s, quo ted , xii, 8 b 137Monn ier. See Le Mo nnie r. Morocc o, 41. Morr is, E. W ., 16. N ié d r ée , 158. No rto n, J. , i79* No tts, 194. O ri en ta l B in d in g s , 65, 66. P ad el ou p , A. M. (Le Jeu ne) , 146, I53 -Ï5 6. ------K , ISOPai nte d bind ings , 89-90. Pai nte d edges, 33-37. Par ker , Arc hbis hop, 173, 174. Payn e, Roge r, 43, 199-205, 21 1, 215. Peire sc, N. C. Fa bri de, 81, 128ƒ3 3, I 3SPicqu es, C., 115. Pigo reau , 99. Press ing, 4. Prid eau x, Miss, viii, xi. R iv ie r e , R. , 207. Roffet, E ., 103-104. Rou nde ls, 56-58. Rou ndi ng, 21. Ru ett e, A. , 143, 145.
Ru ett e, Macé, 15, 142, 143. Rus sian lea the r, 43. S av ar y -D esb ru lo ns , J ., X. Ség uier , D ., 141. Seile , H ., 190. Se m is , 11 5 .
Sew ing, 5. Silv er-le af, 52. Sta mp ed bin din gs, 90, 91. Sta mp s, 48. Sta nle y, Ve net ia, 127. Su nk pan els, 65-66. T h ib a ro n , 158. Th ic k pa per , 7. Th oi na n, M. E ., quo ted, Chap . h i ., pa ss im . Th ou , J. A. de, 42, 120-126. Th ou ven in, 158. Ti tle s wr itt en on fore- edge , 34. To ols , 48. To ry, Geoffroy , 71, 105-108. Tr au tz , 158. U za nn e , O ct av e , 158, 211. V ec el li o , C es ar e , 34. Ve llum gua rds, 11. Ve nte , P. , 158. Vi ng trin ier , Aim é, 83, 86. Vill ars, N. de, 124. W h it a k e r , J ., 207. W hit gif t, Arc hbi sho p, 178. W ier , R ., 200. W ott on , T ., 171, 175-177. Z ae hn sd or f , X, 10, 207.
P ri nt ed by T. an d A. C o n st a b l e , P ri nt er s to H er M aj es ty , at th e E di nb ur gh U ni ve rs ity Pr es s.
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