| The reproduction shown above is from the web site of the Biblioteca Nacional de España, one of the most research oriented Libraries in the world when it comes to decorative bindings. (click here to see this). This binding was made shortly after the death of Felipe de Borbón, Duke of Parma, son of Felipe V and Isabel de Farnesio, married to Luisa Isabel de Francia. It contains the funeral rites to be read by M. l'Abbé de Beauvais on the 13th of March 1766. However when I checked this Felipe de Borbón died on 18 July 1765 so I suppose this binding could have been made sometime between July 1765 and March 1766, this is important when we consider that Louis Douceur retired in 1766, and it has been noted that he was relieur pour le service du dépôt des affaires étrangères at the time, this binding would fall perhaps into work in this Service. |
| Thanks to the minutious work of the Royal Library we can find each roulette and motif catalogued. Here in Comparative Diagram 3, we see the catalogued imprint from the 1766 Oraison Funebre compared with Barber's catalogued imprint ROLL 3 from W.Cat 502 with Fetil ticket. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, we see that the inner dentelle of W.Cat.502 with Fetil ticket is the same as the inner dentelle of the the 1766 Oraison Funebre, not such an amazing coincidence as the W.Cat502 binding is probably from the same 1765-1766 period. |
| By the time we get to Comparative Diagram 3, we can be very sure that this binding was made by René-François Fétil around 1766. This is an important fix on what he was doing at this time and also what tools he was using. Now part of the reason I am showing you this is that I found the binding that I mentioned on an earlier page, where the decorator has used these same imprints (that resemble Barber's DCT 54) that have been used to make a dentelle shown above by placing them around the outside, I suggested there is another way to use these tools because I noticed them being used otherwise in another binding, here it is that missing proof. Shown below with the catalogue information. |
| The excellent reproduction shown above is from the Belles Reliures. Catalogue XII Gumuchian & Cie, Published by Gumuchian, Paris, 1929. Stunning you can almost smell the leather, now the question is are these imprints the same, if they are then we can imagine that René-François Fétil also made this 1764 Almanach Royal. |
| In Comparative Diagram 4, we have spectacular results, the overlay reveals that these two imprints are identical, the darker (reversed) 254 imprint is slightly larger than the lighter Oraison Funebre imprint underneath it. Confirming that this is another Fetil binding. In as much as we have also encountered this same imprint in the Plumet bindings, we need to try and explain how this is possible, and then there is the question of Douceur's pair of this type, catalogued by Barber as DCT 53. |
| We have definitely found Fetil's imprints on this 1764 Almanach Royal! And as they are on an Almanach we can be fairly certain that these tools are what he was using in 1764, we are closing in on Fetil soon we will know what he was up to with the Douceur bindings... now I would like to just shock you all with a wild theory... in 1757 Louis Douceur signed a binding that he supposedly decorated, the image of which detroys any preconceived ideas you might have about his work (click here to see it). It may be that something terrible happened to Louis in 1757 and after that, he never produced himself another decorated binding at all, he hired Fetil to do the work? |
|
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. |
| Virtual Bookings, created by L. A. Miller | return to the Home page of VIRTUAL BOOKBINDINGS |
