| Sometimes we get lucky and a real treasure falls into our hands, such as this rare Padeloup le jeune dentelle binding with doublures and large inner dentelles. It is covering an Office de la Semaine Sainte, Published in Paris, by Antoine Dezallier in 1708. I don't know when this binding was executed by Padeloup, a quick search of the spines of his early bindings, indicates that they were often in the fashion of the pointille bindings of the previous century, no doubt due to his apprentiship with his father who would have been well versed in that tradition. On a page that I made more than 10 years ago I show one of Padeloup's bindings with a doublure and inner dentelle (click here to see it) that binding was perhaps made around 1726. The BnF presents a number of Papeloup bindings, these you can investigate with Gallica at high resolution. The BnF online collection of 27 Padeloup bindings (click here to see them) includes a number of bindings that Padeloup made for J.-B. Chatre de Cange in the period from 1725 to 1733, the spine decoration of these bindings have more in common with our Semaine Sainte however none have doublures or large inner dentelles. |
| Here are the fruits of owning a authentic Padeloup, 1200 dpi scans, that can be blown up to 2000 dpi, giving us an unprecedented view of the detail. Armed with this single imprint you can instantly determine whether you are looking at a Padeloup binding or not. This was one of Padeloup's favorite tools and a signature fleuron that he used on many of his bindings, especially the mosaics. |
| This clover leaf shaped imprint has a bolt like five sided ring attached, this is I think a rare imprint I have not catalogued it before although it has been a long while since I tried to make a complete catalogue of Padeloup le jeune imprints. Le Maite Doreur of Esmerian had a tool something like this (see md-16) (click here to see it) Part of the mystique of Padeloup was his ability to place imprints of a microscopic size very accurately, you can see that he has placed a dot inside each leaf. On another page, I have detailed a spine panel (click here to see it) where Padeloup has individually placed minicule dots inside small rings, such a tour de force can only be attempted by a true master of the art, anyone less will make a mess of it. |
| The imprint pj-22 is also one of Padeloup's favorites, he has used this iconic imprint to decorate many of his bindings. I think I have seen an identical motif in the 16th century but just now I cannot find it, perhaps it is a primeval archetype, or possibly an astral cliche, lodged in the eternal super-consciousness, that is sometimes viewed in hypnagogic states. |
| The imprint pj-17a is one of Padeloup's oldest favorites, it appears in his early fanfare bindings. Looking a bit like an old Antoine Ruette tool, ar-25a (click here to see it). In Comparative Diagram 1 we see that this imprint is flawed (green arrows), you might have guessed that there was a flaw before but now we know for sure, two flaws actually with a slight gap in the scroll outline. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2 we look at the differences betweet pj-13a-2 and pj-13b-2. In the diagram the green letters a and b are pointing out a complimentary pair of dots that accompany this fleuron which is pj-13a-2, the green letters c and d are stationed next to the same complementary pair of dots that are found with pj-13b-2, you will notice that they are significantly larger than their opposite pair. It wouldn't be wise perhaps, to evoke a male, female distinction in this fleuron pair but if we did, pj-13b-2 is the likely male candidate. If you click on this diagram it enlarges to 2000 dpi where you can better observe the flaws pointed out by the purple arrows (green in the enlargement). On the next page we will continue on this adventure of exploring Padeloup le jeune imprints in high resolution. |
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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. |
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