| On this page we point out some common gold tooled corner imprints, noting from the first page of this 2022 Bisiaux research, the importance of DCT 25, Here we show it in conjunction with an imprint I have dubbed the candelabra, simply because of the stacked arrangement of several elements in a single tool. Starting at the bottom with a tassel, then three splayed and veined leafs, surmounted with a dot or ball on which we see an archetypal pod with interior filaments, this pod is crowned first with a dot then a trident surmounted with a final dot. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we have assembled 8 high resolution examples from the eBay 1765 Paroissien. I show many examples because there is not really one that clearly exemplifies this imprint, some small details are visible in one but not another. The filments within the pod for example are not of equal lengths with the one on the left considerably longer than that of the right, this is more obvious in examples "C" and "F". In all examples we see the the left shoulder of the veined leafs is not symmetrical, being placed higher. Harder to see is the shape of the trident which is more clearly exposed in example "D". Now you might think that these details are trifles however when you are confronted with a possibly identical imprint such details may help to expose a clever copy. |
| I scoured again all the catalogues at hand, looking for Bisiaux bindings that may have escaped my attention previously and sure enough I found a very small example, that was reproduced at even a smaller size, however it was found in the 1930 catalogue, A Collection Of French XVIIIth Century Illustrated Maggs Bros. Books 1860-1930 Published by Maggs Bros. London, which is of such exceptional quality that the reproduction could be enlarged to yield the image shown above. The image is clear enough to reveal the presence of the imprint b-34a with its characteristic defect (see the enlargement) In the information about this item we are not given any hints as to when this binding might have been decorated. |
| Diagram 3, we see that this small binding has been decorated with tools that are also found in a binding that we have detailed on another page (see this) |
| In Comparative Diagram 4, I show a shared tool imprint that can be found on at least 3 bindings (see this). In as much as we are told by the BnF and Gruel, that Bisiaux officially became a bookbinder in 1777, bindings that appear to have been decorated by Bisiaux before that date, seriously bring into question the attribution of Bisiaux to any of the bindings that we have been looking at here. On the next page we are going to look at a binding that probably was made around 1773. |
|
click here to return to the HOME page. click here to see the 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 |