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French Decorative Bookbinding - Eighteenth Century

Louis Douceur - 1740-1754


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Comparative Diagram 1 - Louis Douceur decorative bindings 1740 to 1754.

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Here on this page we are continuing in our examination of Louis Douceur bindings, in Comparative Diagram 1, I show a series of bindings that span the period from c. 1740 to c. 1754 (click here to see a progression to 1749). The green 'A' and 'B' are the imprints shown below d-32a-10 and d-32b-10. The blue 'C' and 'D' are d-32a-13 and d-32b-13. Louis Douceur used these tools as well as many of the other tools found on the 1739 Office, for more than a decade.

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Comparative Diagram 2 - Louis Douceur imprints d-32-10 vs 1739 Office lot No. 152 imprints

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At some point Douceur started using the corner tool d-25 it is found on his 1754 signed binding in the British Library Database of Bookbinding Davis543 (click here to see it). There are number of tools found in the 1749 bindings that show the later progressions in Douceurs work. The 1750 binding with the arms of Madame de Pompadour shown in Comparative Diagram 4, is a good example.



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Comparative Diagram 3 - Louis Douceur imprints d-25

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Comparative Diagram 4 - Louis Douceur decorative bindings c. 1730 - c. 1760

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In Comparative Diagram 4, I show a small collection of Louis Douceur bindings, the middle row is composed entirely of 1754 publlications, I make no attempt to put these in a chronological order although I suspect that they start out simply and move towards an ever more complex and detailed arrangement. The bindings from this period are perhaps some of his finest work, minitiously detailed and masterfully executed, without being unduly cluttered. Many of these bindings are found on the 1754 translation of the poem by Titus Lucretius Carus, De rerum natura, below I have included a typical auction catalogue page on this. (click here to see it). Really there are so many examples of Douceur bindings on this particular publication, that I think it is likely that he was making these bindings over a number of years perhaps from 1754 to 1756, I have included below a translation of the auction information, where they speak of a number of similer bindings being found on earlier works, and the fact that Douceur often signed the Lucrece bindings.


lucrece

LUCRÈCE

Della natura delle cose libri sei, tradotti dal latino in italiano da Alessandro Marchetti. Amsterdam [Paris], aux dépens de l'éditeur, 1754. 2 volumes in-8, maroquin rouge, large dentelle aux petits fers (fleurs, feuilles et coquillages), dos orné, pièce de titre et de tomaison noires, roulette intérieure, tranches dorées (Reliure de l'époque). Cohen, 665-666. Belle édition imprimée sur papier de Hollande, illustrée en premier tirage de 2 titres identiques, de 2 frontispices d'Eisen, de 6 figures hors texte par Cochin fils et Le Lorrain, de 7 vignettes en tête par Cochin fils et Eisen, et de 5 culs-delampe de Cochin fils, Eisen et Vassé, le tout gravé en taille-douce par Sornique, Le Mire, Aliamet, Tardieu, Baquoy et autres. BEL EXEMPLAIRE DANS UNE ÉLÉGANTE RELIURE À DENTELLE ATTRIBUABLE À LOUIS DOUCEUR. Reçu maître le 14 octobre 1721, puis titulaire de la charge de relieur du roi par décret royal, il s'occupa du dépôt des Affaires étrangères. On connaît plusieurs exemplaires de cette édition de Lucrèce, reliés par Douceur et avec son étiquette, au décor à la dentelle très proche, dont un aux armes de Claude-Antoine de Choiseul-Beaupré et un autre provenant de la collection Michel Wittock (II, n°143). Ce même décor fut utilisé pour la reliure d'autres ouvrages, dont Le Tragedie de Delfino (Rome, 1733), les Opera de Horace (Londres, 1749), ou encore The Comedies de Térence (Londres, 1751). Ex-libris à sec portant la devise Pax et patrix. Petites rousseurs claires à quelques feuillets. Quelques habiles restaurations à la reliure


Lucretia


Della natura delle cose libri sei, tradotti dal latino in italian da Alessandro Marchetti. Amsterdam [Paris], at the publisher's expense, 1754. 2 volumes in-8, red morocco, wide dentelle with small tools (flowers, leaves and shells), ornate back, inlaid black leather title and tomb label, inner dentelle, gilt edges (Reliure de l'époque). Cohen, 665-666. Nice edition printed on Holland paper, illustrated in first edition of 2 identical titles, 2 frontispices of Eisen, 6 out-of-text figures by Cochin and Le Lorrain, 7 vignettes headed by Cochin and Eisen, and 5 culs-delampe ornaments of Cochin son, Eisen and Vasse, all engraved intaglio by Sornique, The Mire, Aliamet, Tardieu, Baquoy and others. BEAUTIFUL EXEMPLARY IN AN ELEGANT LENGTH BINDING ATTRIBUTABLE TO LOUIS DOUCEUR. Received his papers as a master bookbinder, October 14, 1721, then binder of the king by royal decree. We know several copies of this edition of Lucretia, bound by Douceur with his signature ticket inside, all with a very similar dentelle, including one with the arms of Claude-Antoine de Choiseul-Beaupré and another from the collection Michel Wittock (II, No. 143). This same decor was used for decorating other works, including Delfino's Tragedie (Rome, 1733), Horace's Opera (London, 1749), and The Comedies de Terence (London, 1751). Bookplate with the motto Pax and patrix. Small light foxing on a few pages. A few expert restorations.




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see below links to previous work






Atelier I B 31/10/2014





Icons of the Renaissance 06/02/2014





Atelier au trefle 22/12/2014




Atelier Royal 1518 - 1524 09/11/2014





Unraveling G. D. Hobson's book on fanfares 27/11/2014





16c fanfare on eBay 23/11/2014




another Padeloup binding on eBay 07/12/2014


the last Padeloup fanfare?


Rare Padeloup binding on eBay 15/11/2014



Pierre-Paul Dubuisson's work attributed to Derone le jeune 23/10/2014 (unfinished work now finished)


Pierre-Paul Dubuisson's work attributed to Douceur 22/10/2014 (an under contruction page finished at last)


Louis-Marie Michon - the 1956 Disaster 19/10/2014 (an unfinished page finished at last)


Louis XII Dolphins motif 03/02/2014


Aristophanes Binder 1543 02/02/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - Atlas Catalan 12/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - Linacre bindings 05/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier c. 1500-1520


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - Chronology 16/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - Inventory - binding No. 29 19/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - Inventory - binding No. 39 19/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - The mysterious disappearance of François Tissard d'Amboise 23/01/2014


Atelier des reliures LOUIS XII - FRANÇOIS Ier - The Simon Vostre fiasco 18/01/2014


L'Atelier Simon Vostre 1486-1521 01/01/2014


L'Atelier de Pierre Roffet 1511-1533 - TOOL CATALOGUE 26/01/2014


L'Atelier de Pierre Roffet 1511-1533 27/12/2013


Pierre Roffet - fleur-de-lis binder 28/12/2013


Fleur-de-lis Binder 1525-1540 27/11/2013


Du Saix Master 02/12/2013


Atelier Étienne Roffet 1538-1549 12/12/2013


Atelier Jean Picard 1538-1547


Imitative Binder c.1540 15/12/2013


Salel Binder 1540 17/11/2013


Atelier Ruette 1606-1669 INVENTORY


Atelier Macé Ruette 1606-1644


Atelier du Maitre Doreur 1622-1638


Atelier Antoine Ruette 1638-1669


Atelier des Caumartin 1652-1715


Atelier de Charenton 1670-1685


Atelier Luc-Antoine Boyet 1685-1733


Atelier Antoine-Michel Padeloup. dit Le Jeune 1685-1758


Atelier Louis Douceur 1721-1769


Atelier Pierre-Paul Dubuisson 1746-1762


Atelier Nicolas-Denis Derome, dit Derome le Jeune 1761-1788


Atelier Jean-Pierre Jubert, 1771-1793?


Atelier MM binder, 1770-179-?





A word of Caution

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.

Virtual Bookings, created by L. A. Miller return to the Home page of VIRTUAL BOOKBINDINGS

l.a.miller@mail.pf