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I found the reference shown below to Raphaël Esmerian's 1972 introduction to the work of Macé Ruette at Amélie Sourget (click here to see this). This relates to the bindings shown above, our Satyrae binding compared with No.49, a 1634 BERTII P. found in an old 1908 Théophile Belin catalogue . Esmerian discovered a chronological change in Ruette's choice of tools used to decorate the corners of his inner frameworks of a series of bindings that he made for Habert de Montmor over a fourteen year period, from 1620 to 1634. The change in the corner tools occurs in 1630. The bindings shown above have been decorated with the new 1630 corner tools. Now if we accept Esmerian's theory, our 1625 Satyrae, should have been decorated therefore, around or after 1630. |
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"Macé Ruette (1584-1644) started his binder's apprenticeship in 1598 with Dominique Salis. In 1606 he opened his own workshop ; from 1629 to 1634 he was administrator of the Confrérie des libraires, imprimeurs et relieurs. On the death of Clovis Eve in 1634, he received the title of "King's binder", a charge that passed, upon his death in 1644, onto his son Antoine. His activity seems to have stopped in 1638. He had edited some holy volumes (few, actually) and opened his own bookstore on the street Saint-Jean-de-Latran, near the Fontaine Saint-Benoît.
Up until 1620, the style of the bindings by Macé Ruette was limited to the models of the time: "fanfares", "losange et écoincons" and "encadrements à la Duseuil". It is around 1620 that the young Habert de Montmor (1600-1679) started a collection of Elzeviers that he had bound by Ruette as they were being published. This is a known fact, that can be easily checked because we can follow the changes in the decoration tools depending on the dates of the books, whereas the style stayed the same. I have been able to study thirty-five of these small volumes, bearing dates ranging from 1620 to 1634 : from 1620 to 1630 the fleuron in the interior frame is a small vase with flowers; after 1630, it is replaced by a more important spray tool. There are also changes in the inner roll-stamps: a model disappears in 1629, replaced by a second that lasts until 1634, when a third one appears in 1633. Another strange fact: the quality of the morocco also follows an evolution: rough and of reddish-black color in the beginning, it is of a nice smooth grain and color after 1625-1626. If I spend time on these small volumes and try to ascertain the date of their bindings, it is because they are the first trials of tooled dotted line motifs (décors á fers pontillés). Also, timidly, of the "spray" (á gerbes) motif, a motif which, in a more elaborate form, would soon hold a very important place in the world of binding for fifty years. Ruette's bindings are of very varied styles; in general, he is more successful with smaller formats than with folios especially when he blends full tooling, dotted tooling and branches!" (R. Esmerian) Henri-Louis Habert, seigneur de Montmor, advisor for the Parlement de Paris (1603-1679) was a friend of Mlle de Gournay and of Gassendi who lived and died at his home and of whom he published six folio volumes, preceded by a Latin preface. A friend and admirer of Descartes, he was an enlightened protector of science and literature. Montmor had his books bound in bindings attributed to Macé Ruette (1584-1638), ordinary binder to the king. Référence : Paris Palais Galliera, 8 December 1972, n° 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 sold, in average, 1 000 Euros each 47 years ago. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1 and 2, we see that these gerbes (bouquets) are very similar in construction. An inspection of all of the examples shown on this page indicates that from 1629 to 1634 Ruette did not vary significantly this design, perhaps in an effort to keep H.-L.Habert's collection of bindings uniform. The layout of the gerbes is the same only the dots and circles wander a bit. The tooling of our Satyrae example however differs in its appearance, The detail of the linking curves mr-c, mr-c-2 and mr-s (that might just be a pair of linked mr-c-2 curves), these look to be filled with gold as though well aged. However we discover something mysterious in the rings. |
| In Comparative Diagram 3, I have laid out the tools that are used in the construction of the smaller gerbe. We notice that the rings are solid they are not the pointillé rings that we see in the 1734 example. |
| Next I show a 1729 example from the 2004 Christie's auction catalogue Collection Michel Wittock, Deuxieme partie, Lot No. 41, page 36. I include here the catalogue information, where we see that this was a 1629 Elzevier, and so probably bound by Ruette not long after the publishing. |
| In Comparative Diagram 4 we see again that the rings and dots in the 1629 binding are not the same as those in our Satyrae example. There are no small dots, the rings are pointillé and different in size. I cannot say for certain if any of the other tools are different although the mr-1 is suspect. It may be that the 1634 examples shown in Comparative 1 and 2 are made with the same pointille rings and dots as this 1629 example. In the information concerning this 1629 BAUDIER, they cite the Esmerian's No, 11 example as being presque identique, we look at that next. According to my old notes this is a 1632 binding. |
| In Comparative Diagram 6 we see that these imprints match with solid rings and similar dots, here is the mystery how can this 1632 binding be the same as our Satyraewhen the 1629 and 1634 are different? Next I show another 1632 Ruette Montmor example, It is an Elzevier and so probably was bound for Habert de Montmor sometime around 1632. This reproduction can be found online at Christie's appearing in the 2015 auction Maurice Burrus (1882-1959): la bibliothèque d'un homme de goût. Première partie. Lot 47 |
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In Comparative Diagram 7, we see that these imprints are again the same as those on Esmerian's No. 11 and our Satyrae, solid rings and large and small dots. Here I am tempted to say that our Satyrae binding was probably made in 1632. On the next page we are going to look at a possibly earlier Macé Ruette Montmor binding that is found in the Bibliothèque nationale de France, (département Réserve des livres rares, RES 8-Z ADLER-343). |
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click here to see an Inventory Index of Macé and Antoine Ruette bindings 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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