| The bindings shown above are from the online catalogue of Camille Sourget (click here to see this) if you visit this page you will see that the asking price for these books was 39.000 euros and that they state in reference to the bindings: "One of the most achieved French bindings of the Age of Enlightenment executed in 1773 for the marchioness de Menou" so we must assume that part of the price is due to the bindings. It always amazes me that such prices can be asked without knowing anything about who the binder/decorator was, that executed these surburb "French bindings of the Age of Enlightenment." Fortunately we can now state with a high degree of confidence that these bindings were executed by Pierre Delorme. |
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In Comparative Diagram 1, we compare part of the Cantiques spine with a spine from this 1773 Proverbs. we see of course FL 32 in both examples as well as identical panel corner tools as well as del-8. Delorme imprint del-8 has been detailed previously (see this)
and is shown below in Comparative Diagram 2, where it found in the decoration of the Proverbes spine panels as a filler along the sides, turned 90 degrees and only partially visible due to the fact that this area of the spine is curved and thus only the upper part of the tool will leave an imprint. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, we look at Delorme's decoration on spines without raised bands. For centuries the art of bookbinding conformed to the tradition of raised bands as a method of constructing the bindings. The radical and controversial method of making bindings with flat backed spines i.e. without raised bands seems to have become popular after 1760 this is right around the time when Derome le jeune arrived on the scene and he was often blamed for its appearance (it was not popular with everyone). Ironically the decoration of flat backed spines carried on as if the raised spines were still there and compartments or panels were created as before. Thus we see in our diagram decorations above and below the tome (or volume) label in the place of where the raised bands would have been normally. Raised bands were also sometimes decorated with pallets, which was not easy because they were not flat, and decoration quickly wore off which is probably why Barber did not attempt to catalogue them, however the bindings of Boyet are easier to identify with certainty if you can see these decorations and know how to recognize them. Similarly the flat backed artificial raised band decoration can provide important clues. Barber seems to have not given these decorations much importance, however we can find in his catalogue two pallet examples that are similar to the Delorme examples these are shown in Comparative Diagram 4. |
| In Comparative Diagram 4, the first pallet example is PAL 102. with a reference to W.Cat.370, unfortunately Barber does not show this binding. The second pallet example PAL 103, is referenced to W.Cat.21 and that is not shown either, however we get lucky with W.Cat.454, here Barber presents the actual binding. I have detailed this binding previously. (click here to see this) Barber claims that there is a Derome ticket in W.Cat.454 but does not show it, and even if he did this ticket would only prove that Derome le jeune was a sleazy con artist who placed his signature ticket inside bindings that he never decorated. What kind of 'artist' would do this? Sign something that was made by someone else (Gosselin). I have detailed this previously so we do not need to dwell on the unscrupulous character of Derome. However Barber failed to make the distinction between the tools of Derome, Gosselin or Jubert or other binders who were involved in Derome's signed bindings, thus he attributes W.Cat.454 to Derome and equally all the tools that were involved in the decoration of it. What a disaster, what a confused mess. Barber's Tool Catalogue and his attributions are so filled with errors that it would be better to burn these books rather than try to correct them, as they are now propagating yet another huge wave of misinformation. A case in point is the Bibliotheque nationale de France who have relied heavily upon Barber's 'expertise' and now find themselves utterly compromised by their dependence on Barber's work and or the lack of anyone in France who might be able to correct things. I have warned them about this long ago, however they seem impervious to any suggestion that their Barber based attributions are desperately in need of an overhaul. There is however, one bright spot for anyone who has bought an expensive binding that has been attributed to Derome le jeune based on Barber or the BnF and that is the possibility that the binding was actually made by Gosselin in which case the work is of a quality superior to that of Derome. In time the world will finally identify and judge the work of these binders by their true worth. Pierre Delorme will certainly be remembered as the one of the greatest decorative bookbinders of the 18th century, surpassing all with the shear volume of his diverse and creative output. Certainly we cannot overlook the amazing work of Pierre-Paul Dubuisson, Delorme was his successor and following in his footsteps continued to faithfully reproduce Dubuisson's meticulous work and methods, suggesting that he must have served as an apprentice in Dubuisson's workshops. While Dubuisson's output was enormous he only worked officially for about 15 years while Delorme was on the job for perhaps as many as 30 years or more. |
| In Comparative Diagram 5, I show part of a Delorme spine decoration on a 1774 Almanach Royal (see here to this Almanach) compared with a detail of the spine of W.Cat.454 as well as Barber's PAL 103. |
| In Comparative Diagram 6. we see the Delorme example del-PAL-102-2 compared with Barber's PAL 102 that is somewhat similar but lacks the central belts that hold the del-PAL-102-2 bundles together, one of these belts is wider than the other. I wanted to make another diagram for the pallet decoration of the tome label found on the Proverbes bindings, however I have not found (yet) a really good clear image of this. I see this as a winged insignia rather than a pallet and strangely an almost identical decoration is found in the same location on a 1754 Lucrece decorated by Louis Douceur. (click here to see this) |
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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. |
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