Bookbinding in England and France by William Younger Fletcher

Author:William Younger Fletcher
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Seeley and Co. Limited
Published: 1897-03-25T05:00:00+00:00

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/>^. 6.— Livre dti Statats de I'Qrdre du Saiaet Esprit. Paris, 1578. Orange morocco. Bound by Nicolas Eve. 9} in. by fij in.

allowing him to print the book or to have it printed, he is described as " Marchand Libraire en I'Universite de Paris, & Relieur ordinaire du

Roy." The date of the death of Nicolas Eve is not known, but it was probably earlier than 1592, for in that year we find George Drobet describing himself as ** Relieur du Roy" in several books issued by him at Tours. Drobet appears to have been succeeded by Clovis Eve, unless they held the post conjointly, as in a devotional work, entitled Le ^hresor du PriireSy Oraisons et Instructions Chrestiennes pour invoquer Dieu en tout tempSy published by Clovis Eve at Paris in 1596, he calls himself ** Relieur ordinaire du Roy." He also was binder to Gaston d'Orleans, and in the household accounts of that prince there is an entry of a payment to him of thirty-three livres, dated the 17th of June 1628, for binding a Missal and a Book of Hours in " maroquin de Levant," with a semis of fleurs-de-lis.

Clovis Eve died about the end of the year 1634 or the beginning of 1635.

A large number of bindings were executed about this period at Lyons, but with some exceptions they were very inferior to those done in Paris. Many of the decorations used were produced by single stamps. As these were well cut, and the patterns were frequently imitations o\ the work of the best gilders of the time, the result was often satisfactory, but of course the adornment of these commercial bindings cannot be compared with the beautiful tooling, worked out bit by bit by means of small engraved stamps, which we find on the books bound by such artists as the Eves and Le Gascon.

Henry III. was a great lover of fine bindings, and it is said that he possessed some skill as a binder himself. Many of his books are known by the lugubrious and religious emblems adopted by him for their decoration—emblems in strange contrast with the dissoluteness of his life and manners. A death's-head, the badge of the Order of Penitents, to which the king belonged,' frequently occurs both on the sides and on the backs of the volumes, accompanied sometimes with the motto Memento mori, but more commonly by Spes mea Deus ; while in the centre of the covers a representation of the Annunciation or the Crucifixion is frequently impressed (see Fig. 7). Other bindings bear the implements of the Passion, and some have a semis of tears. These devices are believed to have been used by Henry, then Duke of Anjou, to show the deep grief which he felt at the sudden

death of Mary of Cleves, Princess of Conde, to whom he was greatly attached.

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