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I bought this 1938 Sotheby catalogue some time ago, not even knowing of the mosaic binding by Jubert that is the Frontispiece. This is the third part of the auction of A Selected Portion of the Famous Library Formed by the Late Mortimer L. Schiff, Esq. No true collector of books is without these catalogues. It was a shock to discover this Jubert binding here and even greater surprise to find an auction expert who actually knew this was a Jubert, and especially in an English publication. I have reproduced here the Sotheby's color reproduction that leaves a lot to be desired, as well as the item description that is very informative. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see the 1855a mosaic compared with the Lot 101 mosaic mentioned in Sotheby's description of Lot 1855a. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2 we compare the 1855a sun motif vs Jubert imprint jj-26-2 that is from the signed binding Lot 101. Needless to say a signature tooled in gold on the front of the binding is a lot more reliable than Derome's pathetic paper tickets. Thus from this one signed binding we can learn so much, especially when armed with an inventory of actual Jubert imprint models. What bad luck that Barber never paid any attention to the obvious clues that he could have gained from researching them. Are we to believe that Barber never saw Jubert's signed binding in Gruel's famous publication Manuel Historique Et Bibliographique de l'Amateur de Reliures, (mentioned in this Sotheby's catalogue). Or did he turn a blind eye to the imprints of Jubert knowing fullwell that they meant he would have to rewrite his Derome theories completely… |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, I show the only imprint that I can find that might be what the author of the Lot 1855a information meant when he referred to a corner tool found in the decoration of Gruel's signed Jubert binding. here I suspect that this imprint jj-6-2 was being confused with jj-6 that is similar but larger and also occupies what we might call a corner position. (see the next page for corner diagrams). |
| In Comparative Diagram 6 we finally have some idea of what these 1855a imprints are actually about. When you study the extracted color imprints from the 1938 Sothebys catalogue you get the feeling that the devil is playing with your mind. How can all these imprints be so different, small details missing completely or invented. However when you compare them with the spine panel, that is from a signed Jubert binding (see this), you can see what is real and what is not. |
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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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