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"2 volumes in-8 (224 x 140 mm). 2 frontispieces and 2 titles engraved on copper by The Mire after Eisen, 6 plates engraved on copper after Cochin and Le Lorrain, 7 vignettes and 5 culs-de-lampe. (Yellowed paper, traces of ex-libris removed.) LOUIS DOUCEUR BINDING: red morocco, large dentelle, gold tooled with flowers, leaves and shells, back with nerves adorned and gilded, inner dentelle, Douceur's ticket at the end of the first volume, gilded edges, (small wear and scratches, spine faded. Beautiful edition, printed on Holland hard paper. Copy in a rare binding of Louis Douceur with his ticket showing his address of the rue d'Ecosse. Received master October 14, 1721, then holder of the office of Relieur of the king by royal decree, doing work for the office of Foreign Affairs. We know several copies of this edition of Lucretia, connected to Douceur with his ticket, decor "dentelle", including one with the arms of Claude-Antoine de Choiseul-Beaupré. This same decoration was used for the binding of other works, including Delfino's Tragedy (Rome 1733), Opera d'Horace (London 1749), or The comedies de Térence (London 1751). VERY BEAUTIFUL COPY IN LOUIS DOUCEUR DENTELLE BINDING. Cohen-de Ricci 665-666." |
| On this page we are going to try to assemble the 5 signed Douceur bindings listed by Barber (see his list below). In this list there are three Lucretius bindings, the one at the top of this page does not have the DCT 54 imprint and thus must be number 3 on the list. Number two detailed by Gruel is now in the British Library, I will show it again here along with Gruel's notes on Douceur. |
| Now here is something to reflect on, in Comparative Diagram 2, we see the second and third items on Barbers list of 5 signed Douceur bindings, yet these bindings, on the same 1754 edition, are radically different, with perhaps not a single shared tool. In Comparative Diagram 2 shown below , we see that the spines are also very different with perhaps only the lettering as shared tooling. (shown in black and white due to the lack of a color Davis543 spine) |
| Below I have found the signed Longus, number 5 on the list, this is a very disappointing find in as much as we do not see many imprints that might be useful comparatively unless on another binding of this style. If it were not for the ticket, I would seriously doubt that this was made by Louis Douceur, however I have to put aside my personal preferences and work without bias... now after considerable searching I have found a few small reasons to think that this binding was actually made by Douceur... this binding is such a mystery... sometimes we will do anything to please someone we love... ? |
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Above I show a 400dpi scan of an actual Douceur ticket, in every case, except for the Longus ticket, he cut out the ticket following the general outline of the form (thus each is a bit different) and then pasted it onto the back of the second free endpaper. Now when we read De Ricci's description of this Longus binding, he states: In 1 vol., green morocco, elaborately inlade with red and citron morocco, it just so happenes that I have discovered a real inlaid mosaic binding by Douceur and I will present it on the next page, believe me it looks nothing like this Longus. |
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| Even experts are sometimes wrong, before you spend thousands on a book, please do your own research! Just because I say a certain binding can be attributed to le Maitre isn't any kind of guarantee, don't take my word for it, go a step further and get your own proof. In these pages I have provided you with a way of doing just that. |
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