| The reproduction of the binding shown above is from the online catalogue pages of GAZETTE DROUOT Bibliothèque du vicomte Couppel Lot no. 117 (click here to see this).This was a 2009 auction and in those days it wasn't advisable to put large images online so, this reproduction is a kind of minimum for us but the binding is so important we have to use it until I can find something better. We have been referring constantly to Louis-Marie Michon's 1956 invention, the so called atelier a la tulipe.... below I am going to show his page on this (in the interest of science). |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see Michon's page 51 where he introduces the Ateliers a la Tulipe, the text is in French but don't worry, we are only going to pick out a few specific details of what he has to say. He says the best example of a binding by this workshop is No. 335 found on a Heures présentées à Madame la Dauphine aux armes de Mademoiselle de Blois, veuve du Regent. Which he says was made before 1749 the year she died... 45/46 is the guess of certain booksellers. This is the widow of the Regent who you remember served as interim ruler between Louis XIV and LOUIS XV and in that time she was effectively Queen of France "As the wife of the de facto ruler of France, Françoise became the most important lady of the kingdom." It is her armorial stamp on the binding that Michon is describing for No. 335, that we also see on the binding shown here at the top of the page. No. 117. Now we will address firstly this issue because in the auction information for binding 117 we are told that Michon was mistaken or possibly mixed his references with his second example a 1739 Office de la Quinzaine. What they are claiming is that the 117 binding is Michon's No. 335 (and therefore the best example of his Atelier a la tulipe). What they assume is that Michon mixed No. 335 with No. 214, however Michon's description of that binding is very clear, mentions two branches going around the central armories, this is his second type and it also is decorated with the arms of Mademoiselle de Blois. Below I show what must be binding No 214, Michon's second type of mosaic binding from l'atelier a la tulipe.. You will recognize these imprints from our work on the previous pages... |
| The reproduction of binding 143 shown above is from Librairie Souget Catalogue XXIII, Manuscrits Enlumines Et Livres Precieux, 2001 page 390. Here we see a much better reproduction of this mosaic binding aux armes de Mademoiselle de Blois, of which I do not think there are many, if there is another with branches going around the central armories I will be very surprised. Lets imagine for a moment that we have discoved Michon's unidentified workshop, for us there is no mystery and this binding was certainly not executed by Duseuil as maintained by the Sourget experts, the imprints that we see here are from Louis Douceur's tools. More disturbing is that Michon claims that all these bindings can be attributed to Derome! and this is after studying the subject? Below I show yet another mosaic binding with the arms of Mademoiselle de Blois, this is obviously another binding that is from the same workshop, the workshop of Louis Douceur! |
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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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