| In Comparative Diagram 1, I show 2 bindings from the Bibliotheque nationale de France, B-182 (click here to see it) and B-183 (click here to see it). Binding B-183 has been catalogued as the product of an unidentified workshop (atelier non identifié) and a production date of 1777. Binding B-182 has been attributed to Derome le jeune (atelier de Nicolas-Denis Derome, vers 1777) with a production date of around 1777. This is rather mysterious due to the fact that many of the imprints are obviously identical on both bindings. However this mystery has now been cleared up as we can prove that all of the above bindings were made by Gosselin. It is not surprising that someone might think that Derome le jeune had something to do with these extraordinary works of art. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I have collected samples of the imprints gos-37a-3 and gos-37b-3, our Gosselin sample is not of the quality of the others however good enough to show that these imprints all derive from the same set of tools, a close inspection of the enlarged diagram reveals small details that are identical in the MS 1546 and BnF examples |
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I have included above a few example imprint comparisons, the enlargements reveal many small details that confirm the identical nature of each. This has been a good exercise as it allowed me to spot details in the type models that were either missing or that were parts that were not parts. It is very rare that a type model is perfect, if in doubt it is always best to find more than one example. Explore the enlargement of Comparative Diagram 5, you will see things that probably do not belong to the model yet are found in both examples. Such anomalies are also a form of proof although they might not show up in all the imprint examples of a single type. Another serious issue has cropped up involving scale, the downloaded high resolution images from Gallica are sometimes found to be in exact scale as if scanned, however some have been up to 2 percent smaller. Almost all measurements for the various bindings shown above seem to be slightly off. Scale is absolutely important, however when an imprint appears identical to another that is smaller or larger, the researcher must depend on a certain amount of intelligent logic. If you see the same flaw in two seemingly identical imprints that are not identical in size, then you can guess that a measurement somewhere such as the size of the binding is faulty. This is where scans are infinitely more accurate and more valuable than photographs and especially printed photographs from about 1930 onward. |
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click here to see the INDEX of the pages from 2017. click here to return to the HOME page. see below links to previous work |
| 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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