| When I saw this binding on eBay a few weeks ago, I recognized right away the mysterious signature tool of Rene Francois Fetil in the corners and was determined not to miss this opportunity to be able to scan it at 2400dpi. Its been too long since I have updated my pages on this important binder. Leon Gruel, for whom I have the greatest respect, was wrong about Fetil when he said that Fetil's work was mediocre. I think Gruel did not see many of Fetil's bindings, however since the time of Gruel's writing, I suspect that Fetil's history has been swept under the carpet by the experts such as those at the BnF who do not even afford him a place in their list of important binders. However when you start to recognize his work you will discover plenty of unique and original bindings (see my list). This list is far from complete, I have since found more Fetil bindings such as the one shown below, No 216, found in the 1929 Gumuchian Catalogue Belles Reliures. Catalogue XII. This binding has a lot in common with our eBay discovery. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see a nearly identical dentelle composed of short three unit sections that could be called a pallet. I have not seen this pallet on any other Fetil binding and I decided to try to extract a single representative unit. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, we see 2 tassel like units riding on what Barber might call swags. Where the swags meet there is a pine cone on a stem with two leafs spinging out from the base. One tassel is noticeably thicker than the other, both are crowned with a ring with a dot in its center. Note that the ring over the thicker tassel appears slightly squashed in the lower example, this is perhaps not always the case. |
| You might wonder why am I going to such a long examination of these pine cones, It is due to the fact that while I was assembling these diagrams, I noticed a distinct flaw in the BREVIARIUM examples (pointed out with green arrows). This flaw is not found in the 1762 ATLAS examples! What does this mean? There can be no other explanation other than the fact that this flaw is in fact damage that must have occurred after 1762. (see Comparative Diagram 9). |
| In Comparative Diagram 5 we open a giant can of worms, this imprint as well as its larger model rf-rococo-2 can be found on many bindings especially in the post Douceur period (see this). |
| I have carefully examined this binding previously (see this). The tools that decorated this binding are mainly those of Louis Douceur, however now we must consider these Fetil rococo imprints. |
| I have documented this binding previously (see this) |
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In Comparative Diagram 9, we see something very interesting, Fetil used basically the same tools to decorate these spines, this suggests then that the BREVIARIUM could have been made around this same 1765 period. We know from the damaged pine cones that this is a strong possibility. On the next page we will examine closely the mysterious René-François Fétil signature fleuron. |
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| 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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