| The binding shown above is Boyet binding example 36 in the 2002 publication Reliures françaises du XVIIe siècle : Chefs-d'oeuvre du musée Condé, by Isabelle de Conihout & Pascal Ract-Madoux. I show also their information about this binding where they make no mention of the grotesque spine, however this example appears to match our eBay comte d'Hoym example. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see that the individual tortillions of this type have one interior dot and one interior ring, with accompanying exterior dots. This I suspect is an unusual feature, and evidence that these tortillons are the same on both bindings. This is however very difficult to prove due to the constant overlapping of these imprints that masks many of the features, we do not have a single clear image of this tortillon pair. The exterior dots are almost always masked however I have pointed out the obvious examples with blue and green arrows. In Comparative Diagram 2, I have taken the least distorted Boyet 36 example and overlayed onto it a similar comte d'Hoym example, this is a kind of proof as the imprints line up very well, and the scales are matching. Of course we would expect these to both be Boyet imprints and matching. |
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In Comparative Diagram 3, we are faced with another quite similar problem, these palettes could be the same Boyet palette X however we do not have a good example of this rare palette. Thus even though these palettes look the same there is not enough clear detail to allow us to pronounce them as being the same. Now we have covered some of the details that could be ascribed to the workshop of Boyet, we can proceed to examine some of the particulars of this binding that are not typical of Boyet bindings. |
| The marbled page edges shown in Comparative Diagram 4, have been slightly enhanced to show the color that has perhaps faded somewhat over 3 centurys. I said on a previous page that I have looked at over 100 boyet bindings, this is not an exageration, and in that hundred I do not ever remember seeing marbled edges of this sort, whether or not these edges were then ment to have been guilded, I cannot say. So this is the first non-typical feature. Below I have reproduced the marbled endpapers, may be called papier marbré peigné (click here to see another example) this is an older style and unusual perhaps on a binding that has to have been made after 1711. Probably these colors will be very useful in tracking the source of this paper. |
| In Comparative Diagram 5, we see another feature that I do not think is typical, almost all Boyet bindings have an inner dentelle/roulette, even just a basic roulette but here there isn't one. Normally I would hesitate to buy a binding that may be a Boyet, but does not have an inner dentelle/roulette. This is one of the first things I look for and another good way to recognize a boyet as these roulettes are often his usual favorites. |
| While there is no inner dentelle, the board edges have been decorated. In Comparative Diagram 6, I show a portion of the edge where we can see more of this roulette than elsewhere and this is an unusual roulette for Boyet, I have not recorded it previously. It is a real challenge to recreate this roulette from this small fragment, and I show in Comparative Diagram 7 only a rough reconstruction of what it may actually look like. |
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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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