| We know from the previous page that Isabelle de Conihout et Pascal Ract-Madoux have catalogued certain Boyet fers, in their 2002 publication Reliures françaises du XVIIe siècle : Chefs-d'oeuvre du musée Condé. In Comparative Diagram 1, below, I have partially reconstructed this 1695 example of their fer #3. The Isabelle de Conihout et Pascal Ract-Madoux example has been made from rubbings. Even though our example is a bit worse for wear we can still see certain details in the high resolution photograph shown above. Details that can only be seen when you have enlarged high resolution photographs. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I have enlarged part of a high resolution photo that shows some diagnostically important details found in Boyet fer 3, The 'a' and 'b' arrows are pointing to cuts that were made in the tip of the bottom right leaf, to create a sort of rhomboidal shape crowning the leaf, this feature is probably also found on the opposite leaf. Arrow 'c' is pointing to what normally should be a dot, but here the dot also has a deliberate rhomboidal shape. Arrow 'd' is pointing to the unexpected curve in this stem that would normally be straight, Arrow 'e' is pointing to a cut in another dot with a rhomboidal or trapezoidal shape. Arrow 'F' is pointing to the most distinctive diagnostically important detail of fer 3, which is that the spine or stem of this fleuron does not attach to the crowning sphere as would be expected in a symmetrically balanced design, but is rather offset to the right and not in the middle. This defect in the spine could be imagined as the result of some sort of accident that somehow displaced the spine and resulted in the un-expected curve at the base and the displaced central part. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, we see an example of the Boyet fer 3 from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. In the very limited BnF bibliographic information on Luc-Antoine Boyet they show but a single example of a binding by Boyet, this just happens to have a spine decorated with Boyet fer 3 imprints. In comparing a BnF example with our 1695 imprint we see that the BnF example is overflowing with gold to such an extent that certain details are blurred or even missing when we compare it to our diagnostic details diagram. |
| In Comparative Diagram 4, I have reproduced an illustration found on another BnF page, Éditions de la Bibliothèque nationale de France entitled 'La politesse des livres'. I have reversed their black and white illustration to show it here and also show it in its correct orientation, as the BnF image is a mirrored inversion. Interestingly this image is accompanied with the text Fer à têtes d'oiseaux adossées. I searched high and low for this on the internet and found nothing, no other author appears to have ever used this interesting name for this tool. Coincidentally this image did pop into my head when I was creating my reconstruction, imagining that these were in fact the heads of birds, as the 'eyes' and general shape is more like the head of birds than anything else. Why not then, use this name for this tool as the image is something we are not likely to forget when and if we ever encounter more examples. |
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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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