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French Decorative Bookbinding - Eighteenth Century

Derome - c.1770


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I wanted to show something on this page and was distracted by another important subject and that is, decorative bindings on the Almanach Royals. It is nearly certain that most of these bindings were executed right after these Almanachs were published. This gives us a sort of time capsule on the work of the binders decorating them. On the previous page we were looking at the transitions within the mid dentelles arrangements of Derome, whether any of those dentelles were made by Jacques-Antoine Derome is uncertain, most were made after 1760. A thorough search of all the Almanach Royals before 1760 does not reveal many decorative bindings by either Derome le jeune or his father. However I have found a number of them all after 1770. So this then gives us some sort of chronological reference. Looking at the mid dentelle diagrams from the previous page we notice that there is a change of roulettes and also a change in the structural units, in particular Barber's FL 181 shown in Comparative Diagram 1.



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Comparative Diagram 1 - Barber's FL 181 vs W.Cat.673 vs dj-45a and dj-45b

In Comparative Diagram 1, we see that Barber defines this pair of fleurons as; Pair of horn-shaped sprigs of small heads; fifteen elements. W.Cat.673. Firstly I think he meant to say beads and not heads, secondly if we consider that Barber usually lists all the bindings where he has found examples of the tool in question, and yet in this case with a very common Derome tool, he can only list one, W.Cat.673. This suggests that he has not seen very many Derome bindings even though he has attributed dozens and dozens of bindings to Derome in this book of his; Barber, Giles. The James A. de Rothschild Bequest at Waddesdon Manor : Catalogue of Printed Books and Bookbindings. Waddesdon Manor: The Rothschild Foundation, 2013. So we must turn to Barber's only reference to these sprigs… W.Cat.673. Shown at the top of this page, most of us never even knew that Derome used this kind of roulette and even Barber who ascribes just about EVERYTHING to Derome, has not blessed this binding with an N.-D-Derome attribution. Strange because there are number of obvious Derome tools here and FL 181 is certainly one. If we check back on the diagrams of the previous page we see that FL 181 looks to be replacing the very ancient and possibly J.-A. Derome tool jad-44a and 44b (see this.) This change seems to be happening near the end of the 60's so I thought it would be good to see what we can find in Alamanachs. In Retrospect the FL 181 does not replace the jad-44pair, it appears suddenly in the tools of Derome, appearing to do the same kind of work as the 44pair, however occasionally both pairs are seen in the same decoration, the chronological importance that I am hoping to pinpoint is just exactly when the FL 181 pair first appears.



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This 1770 Almanach Royal is found in the Belles Reliures. Catalogue XII, Gumuchian and Cie, Paris, 1929, and I have shown it on another page (see this). At some point Derome changed from rather thick tassels to thin ones, I donÕt mean the roulettes, I mean the small bell shaped imprint that was a vital to bookbinding decorators as they were used, among other things, to designate hierarchical status in the church. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons each one had more or less tassels in their armorial shields (see this).



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Comparative Diagram 2 - Barber's DST 33 tassel vs Derome examples.


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Comparative Diagram 3 - Derome decors with tassels 1770 - 1782




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1770 Almanach Royal decorated with the dj-r-6 roulette.


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Comparative Diagram 4 - Derome roulette dj-r-6 binding examples c.1765 to 1775.


In Comparative Diagram 4 I have collected 4 examples of this relatively rare Derome roulette, I have documented an early example previously (see this at the bottom of this page) this is the largest binding in this diagram and it was made, at least, by 1764 as indicated by the date on the spine.



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Comparative Diagram 5 - Derome portefeuille decoration with roulette dj-r-6.


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Comparative Diagram 6 - Derome roulette dj-r-6 various examples


In Comparative Diagram 6, I have collected together examples of this roulette, I started this previously on another page (see this) (imprint strips c, d, e, and f are from the 1764 Derome, strips g,h, and i are from the 1775 example, strip k is from the 217 portefeuille. Strips a and b are from a binding that we are going to examine thoroughly on the next page, it is shown together in Comparative Diagram 7 with a 1765 Paroissien.



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Comparative Diagram 7 - Derome decore 1770?


In Comparative Diagram 7, we see a 1765 Paroissien and a 1758 Semaine Sainte. If we consider the Derome roulette shown on W.Cat.673 at the top of this page, is rare (for Derome) and may be from 1770 and is the same as found on this Paroissien. While the wide tassels on item 257, a 1770 Almanach Royal that is also decorated with the same arrangement of Derome tools, we might imagine that this Paroissien was perhaps also made around 1770. This I compare with a binding that I recently discovered on eBay, It covers a 1758 Semaine Sainte. The question is, when was this Semaine Sainte decorated by Derome le jeune? Certainly not in 1758!



Click here to see the previous page



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click here to see the INDEX of the 2017 pages.


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