| The photograph of the binding shown above is found in a Sotheby's 2014 auction (click here to see it) This is a rather obvious Boyet binding that the Sotheby's experts did not mention although there is something unusual about it, it is the fact that Boyet employed an unusual tool to finish the spine panel corners. It is this very tool that we are going to focus on. It appears in the late period Boyet bindings, I have tried to capture the entire shape on page 7 where it has been used to create a dentelle. Below in Comparative Diagram 1, we see only the top part of this imprint. In Comparative Diagram 2, I show some nearly complete examples of this scarecrow imprint. In Comparative Diagram 3, we see a striking difference in these state of these two imprints, we know that they must have been made by the same tool however by 1723 or perhaps much later this tool has suffered some considerable erosion., while in 1689 it was like new. Perhaps another telling indicator of the true age of this binding, is the unusual treatment of the raised bands, here we see rare stripeing, instead of the usual roulettes. A similar stripeing appears on a 1728 Semaine Sainte on page 9 |
| I show below, a second binding with the same corners, you can find this reproduction on the web pages of Bibliorare (click here to see it) and wondered if I could find something that would help me date this binding more accurately. |
| Searching the internet for "Louise-Henriette-Gabrielle de Lorraine" who's arms decorate this binding, we find in Wikipedia (Louise Henriette Gabrielle; 30 December 1718 5 September 1788) was a French noblewoman and member of the House of Lorraine. She married into the House of La Tour d'Auvergne and was Duchess of Bouillon. She was engaged to Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne, only son and heir of Charles Godefroy de La Tour d'Auvergne and his Polish born wife Maria Karolina Sobieska. The couple were married on 27 November 1743. Her husband, as heir to the Duchy of Bouillon, was styled prince de Turenne; as such, Louise became the Princess of Turenne. The couple's marriage was carried out by the Cardinal d'Avergne, her husband's cousin; they wed in the Hôtel of her younger brother, Louis Camille de Lorraine. Her husband was nine years younger than she.. I found one other reference in an 1883 Bulletin mensuel by Librairie Damascène Morgand you can find this on archive.org |
| This then suggests that she may have changed her armorial stamp after her marriage in 1743, so we can assume that this binding could have been made anywhere from 1727 to 1743. Now we are going to look at one of the oddest Boyet bindings that we have found so far, covered with scarecrows. |
| From the chaos of this spine I have tried to reconstruct the scarecrow. When was this binding made...? We do not know, however I would not be surprised if it was made after 1733. |
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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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