| The reproduction shown above can be found in Sotheby's online catalogue LIVRES ET MANUSCRITS17 DECEMBER 2015 | 2:30 PM CET PARIS (click here to see it) The Sotheby's experts state that there is a Plumet signature on spines this set ("au plumet"). I have searched but do not see it, still I suppose that if you are an expert detailing a set of books that is estimated to sell for somewhere between 50 and 80 thousand euros (and sells for 137.400!), you don't make mistakes. For now we will assume that a certain Plumet has decorated this set of bindings. What we notice right away is that the corner tool appears to be the same as that found on the bindings such as the British Library example C6b18 shown below. |
| Please remember that all images from the British Library are under copyright, and even if you see it on my pages you still have to ask their permission to use it. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, I have tried to compare these corner imprints and it is not easy task, firstly I think the Sotheby's examples have been made with a tool that has seen a good few years of use while the British Library example is perhaps newer, all examples have problems with either a poor impression or too much gold in the leather. So we have to be careful in pronouncing that these imprints to have been made by the same tool, its not a clear cut case you might say. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, I show what I think is a very bad sign, two imprints that look identical except that one is significantly smaller, to me this indicates that these two bindings have not been made with the same tools and were not made by the same binder. On the next few pages we are going to explore bindings that are related to the non Plumet C6b18. |
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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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