| The W.Cat.401 binding is linked to W.Cat.421 binding shown on the previous page by the imprint gos-2, Barber's DCT 34. We have studied this important diagnostic tool on a previous page (click here to see it) with this single tool Barber could have solved many of the attribution problems that he was encountering. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see 5 of the more important varieties of this gos-2 imprint (Barber-DCT 34). Barber should have at least noticed the distinct differences between Gosselin's tool and Derome's tool of the same type, before he made his attributions of Gosselin bindings to Derome. Really we should not be surprised that he made so many mistakes. Barber was completely taken in by the work of Louis-Marie Michon, who was wrong at every turn, a pretend expert who set the study of 18th century French bookbindings back two centuries. Thus Barber attributes, like Michon, a diverse spectrum of decorated bindings to either Derome le jeune or his father, even though neither one decorated many of the bindings which they so eagerly emblazoned with their own tickets. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I show the spine of W.Cat.401 compared with that my Gosselin 1768 binding, The spine panels of these bindings have been decorated not with small tools but with a small plaque, this is readily obvious when you see that the decoration does not fill the compartments completely and that the corner imprints are not really in the corners. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, we see Barber's SP 12, compared with a scan from the 1768 example. Barber does not mention in his notes provided with the SP 12 that this has been produced with a plaque, however in the W.Cat.401 information, he does mention fer à un coup panels (SP 12). Due to the fact that the 1768 spine is wider and less curved we see a more complete picture of this plaque. |
| In Comparative Diagram 4, I attempt to discover if there is any sort of chronological sequence in the decoration of these three examples. The 1768 example is perhaps the earliest while the 1774 Almanach Royal example is very probably from 1774. The fact that the 1768 spine is identical to that of W.Cat.401 and that the 1774 example shares the same corner imprint (see this page) might suggest that these bindings are all from around 1774. |
| In Comparative Diagram 5 we look at Barber's BV 4, I had been wondering about this for some time as Barber shows this imprint without the dot that I have pointed out with a green arrow, The Gosselin examples of this type are identical to Barber's illustrated example of BV 4 with the exception that all are found with a dot. Furthermore as Barber has referenced W.Cat.401 as the source of his BV 4 example we discover that he has omitted to include the dot! This is surprising as he notes a woodcut example (that I have shown on this page) and the woodcut example has the dot. |
| It may be that the corner tool (DCT 49) and the bulbous vase shown in Comparative Diagram 6, indicate a somewhat later date of creation for this binding |
| In Comparative Diagram 7 we can see that Barber must have had a very good scan of this imprint with the only problem being that the head of the inprint was partialy obscured by the overlaying fillets. I have attempted a partial reconstruction of this unusual imprint that I have not previously catalogued suggesting to me that it was a rare short lived tool. This might allow us to fix a more exacting date on W.Cat.401. We show on page 4 a Magg Bros example No. 102 that could be from 1771 and two examples on page 5. One of these two very similar bindings has a verified date of 1776. While both bindings have been decorated with BV 4. The imprint DCT 49 is not found on the 1774 Almanach Royal. |
|
click here to return to the HOME page. click here to see an INDEX of the 2017 pages. 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. |
| Virtual Bookings, created by L. A. Miller | return to the Home page of VIRTUAL BOOKBINDINGS |