| I found this fantastic digital reproduction in the Austrian National Library , below it we see their catalogue information and here is a link to this high quality digital reproduction. In as much as this binding covers the famous 1757 Catalogue des livres du cabinet de Monsieur Girardot de Prefond written by Guillaume-Francois De-Bure, one might imagine that it was bound sometime in 1757, however we see here for the first time some unusual imprints. This might suggest that the binding was made some years later possibly by Delorme. Still what we see here is a stunning collection of imprints deriving mainly (almost entirely) from Dubuisson's tools. The ANL reproduction allows us to zoom in to see each imprint in great detail and the first example that I would like to show here is of a Dubuisson pd-1. This is an imprint that I have detailed many times before, but nowhere have I been able to show it in such detail as here. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I point out with green arrows a series of cuts, that are not always so evident. Jubert used occasionally a very similar looking tool , I show this in Comparative Diagram 3, however Jubert examples are rare and my example of it is unfortunately from a low resolution reproduction (see Item 71 (PL. XXVIII) LIVRES ILLUSTRÉS DU XVIIIE SIÈCLE, Paris, France: Librairie Giraud-Badin, 1955) |
| The next imprint we are going to look at is pd-4-3, this important imprint is one of Dubuisson's lesser known birds, and as it was laterly employed by Delorme it is fortunate that we now have a high resolution example. |
| Now when we compare the imprints of this binding found in the ANL and those found on Barber's W.Cat. 423 example we see some amazing parallels. First we must bear in mind that W.Cat. 423 was obviously decorated by Delorme as I have shown on another page. We see that Delorme in decorating W.Cat. 423 followed closely the layout and tools of our 1757 binding, we can only guess that these two bindings may have been made contemporaneously and very possibly both were decorated by Delorme. However the plethora of Dubuisson tools and the lack of a distinct Delorme tool on the 1757 catalogue demands further investigation. On the next page we will look at an imprint found on the catalogue binding that appears at first sight, not to belong to either one of these artists who were, in my mind la creme de la creme. of decorative bookbinders in 18th century France. |
|
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. |
| Virtual Bookings, created by L. A. Miller | return to the Home page of VIRTUAL BOOKBINDINGS |