| The binding shown above is found in the British Library Database of Bookbindings shelfmarked Davis486 (click here to see it). They say the the binder of this mosaic was Jacques-Antoine Derome however we now know that this is incorrect, and all the expert references a waste of time. I am going to show you why. |
| You do not need to be a rocket scientist to know that these two decorative bindings were made by the same artist. On page 5 I show conclusive evidence that binding c48b8 was decorated by Delorme, therefore Davis486 has also been executed by Delorme, and we see on this binding some unusually clear imprints of Barber's PAL 59. |
| In Comparative Diagram 2 we see Barber's PAL 59 compared with Dubuisson and Delorme examples of this same tool. Barber states that it is Derome's characteristic pallet, here he has made a great blunder, he has fallen into, Michon's quagmire along with so many others. We can see in this exceptionally clear example of this imprint that the front and back are distinctly different the front somewhat like an arrowhead that the back looking like some small beast with front and back legs, it is this detail that makes this tool so very hard to copy and in fact I have only seen one pathetic copy and that was on a real Jacques-Antoine binding (click here to see it) |
| In Comparative Diagram 3 we see Derome's palette of this type it has two points one in the front and one in the back and no beasts. Now lets ask ourselves this question, if Derome made all these mosaic bindings as Michon claimed, why was he not doing this with his own tools? No!!! Derome is not involved in these bindings and as I have shown on the previous page there are plenty, and that is only part of the collection most of which were made by Delorme. He should be famous but no... today, no one can even say for sure whether he is Pierre or Jean. The ironic part of all this is that we can barely find 2 bindings that we can positively identify as the work of Jacques-Antione Derome but thanks to Louis-Marie Michon, Derome is claimed to have made hundreds of these mosaic bindings. It is ironic and sad at the same time, Delorme where ever he is, is not a happy camper! It is long overdue that we do justice to this history, and Delorme is returned to his rightful place as one of the greatest decorative bookbinders of the 18th century. |
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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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