BOOK-BINDING.

CONCLUDED.

HE History of book-binding in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries must be looked for, and eliminated from, the archives, accounts and inventories of Kings, Princes, and Royal Officers. The magnificent libraries of the Dukes of Burgundy and Orleans, now partly destroyed and scattered among the public collections of various countries, were rich in specimens of costly binding. As a specimen of a binding of the fifteenth century, we present a fac-simile of an engraved and stamped binding, in an unknown material, representing the mystical Chase of the Unicorn, the animal taking refuge in the lap of the Virgin. The original is in the Public Library of Rouen. The old style of thick, heavy and, in some sort, armour-plated binding, could not exist long after the invention of printing, which while multiplying books, reduced their size, and gave them a less intrinsic value. Wooden boards were replaced by compressed cardboard; nails and clasps were gradually laid aside, and stuffs of different kinds no longer employed, only skin, leather, and parchment were used. This was the beginning of modern book-binding, but book-binders were as yet but mechanics, working for the booksellers, who when they had on their premises a book-binding room, assumed in their editions the double title of booksellerbookbinder. In 1578, Nicholas Eve, still placed on his books and his sign-board, "Bookseller to the University of Paris and Bookbinder to the King." No volume was sold unbound.

The Arabs had, for a long time, known the art of dressing, dyeing, stamping, and gilding the skins which they used to make covers for books; and the Crusades, which introduced into Europe many luxurious customs, must have exerted considerable influence upon the art of binding. The covers of the books of the Arabs took the name of Ale (wings) probably from a resemblance in beautiful colors to the wings of a bird of rich plumage. Furopean workmen could not fail to take hints from the specimens of Oriental binding which the crusaders brought back from their expeditions. A revolution which had taken place in the formation of royal and princely libraries, had its correllative influence upon binding. Bibles and missals, and reproductions of ancient authors, and treatises on theology, no longer formed the only books.

A new language had given rise to histories, romances, and poems, forming the delight of a society becoming more and more polished every day. For the pleasure of readers, the gallant of one sex and the fair of the other, books were required more agreeable to the eye, and less rough to the touch than those used for the edification of monks and the instruction of scholars. The creations of fancy needed a softer and more refined binding than the hard and metallic coverings of dry theology. The cumbrous folios were changed to sizes more convenient for the courtly reader. Fine and smooth vellum was used for writing, and books

were covered in velvet, silk, or woolen stuffs. Paper, a recent invention, opened up a new era for libraries, though two centuries were to elapse before pasteboard had entirely taken the place of wooden covers.

From the end of the fifteenth century, although book-binding was always considered as an adjunct to the bookseller's shop, certain amateurs who had a taste for art, required richer and more recherché exteriors for their books. Italy set the example in beautiful bindings in morocco, stamped and gilt, imitated, however, from those of the Koran, and other Arabian manuscripts, which Venetian navigators frequently brought back with them from the East. The expedition of Charles VIII., and the wars of Louis XII., introduced into France, not only Italian bindings, but Italian binders also.

Without renouncing, however, at least for the Livre d'heures, the bindings ornamented with goldsmiths' work and gems, France had very soon binders of her own, surpassing those who had been to them as initiators or masters. Jean Grolier, of Lyons, loved books too much not to wish to give them an exterior ornamentation worthy of the wealth of knowledge they contained.

Treasurer of War, and Intendant of the Milanese, before the battle of Pavia, he had begun to create a library which he subsequently transported to France. and did not cease to enlarge and enrich till his death, which occurred in 1565. His books were bound in morocco from the Levant, and it is probable that this period inaugurated and, we might say, perfected the application of morocco as a binding. Such care and taste were displayed under the supervision of this cultivated and exacting amateur, that book-binding at this time rose to the height of perfection. His binders were constrained to be careful, for it is remarked that the Grolier-bound books rejoice in an ample margin. His ornamentation was generally in the best taste-simple, elegant, and flowing. The superiority and tastefulness of his design, no doubt created numerous imitators, and now the Grolier pattern, well imitated by a modern binder, is something which an amateur deems himself fortunate in possessing. One of the immediate followers of Grolier, and one of much celebrity, was Maioli. Specimens of his bindings are eagerly sought for by the cognoscenti. Indeed, fabulous sums have been expended for the sake of securing original specimens of a Grolier or Maioli binding, though the book bound may have been in itself but of moderate value. Olive and brown appear to have been the favorite colors of Grolier. Many of the patterns of this noble bibliophile were formed by inlaying leather of different colors.

Both Maioli and Grolier must have been good-natured bibliomaniacs, for their bindings are inscribed with their names, "et Amicorum," seeming to indicate that the books were not solely for their selfish delectation and amusement. No doubt such a privilege was envied the fortunate friends; lending libraries for the general public being then little imagined.

Princes and ladies of the courts prided themselves on their loved books, and the desire to acquire them; they founded libraries, and encouraged the work of good book-binders, who produced masterpieces of patience and ability, in decorating the covers of books, either with enamelled paintings, or with mosaics made of different pieces inlaid, or with plain gildings, stamped on the surface with small irons. The sixteenth century produced the most splendid binding in all styles, and the French book-binders of that period have never been surpassed, or even equalled. The painter, the engraver, and even the goldsmith, co-operated with the book-binder by furnishing him designs for his ornaments. The designs in fashion at the beginning of the sixteenth century were often drawn by distinguished artists, such as Jean Cousin, Stephen de Laulne, etc. Nearly all the French Kings, and more especially the Valois, were passionately fond of splendid bindings. Catherine de Medicis was such a connoiseur, that authors who presented her with copies of their works, sought to make their presents eminent by the beauty of the binding, made especially for her. Henry III., who appreciated handsomely bound books no less than his mother, invented a very singular binding, when he instituted the order of " Penitents." This consisted of death's heads and crossbones, tears, crosses, and other instruments of the Passion, gilt or stamped on black morocco, and having the following device, "Spes mea Deus" ("God is my hope "), with or without the arms of France.

Diana of Poictiers, the famous mistress of Henry II. was contemporay with Grolier. She indulged a fondness for fine books and bindings. Her bindings rank among the most beautiful,—they were no doubt designed by Petit Bernard the artist who made drawings for her jewelry. Her chief ornaments were in conformity with her name, the bow, the quiver the arrow and the crescent. These, with the initial D, repeated and incorporated with the initial letter H, of her royal paramour generally adorn the sides of her books. ornament or monagram, she had inscribed on all the furniture in her dwelling.

This same

In the Reign of Henry VIII about 1538, Grafton undertook to print the GREAT BIBLE. Not finding types and men enough in England, he went to Paris to commence the work. He was soon stopped there, for working on such an heretical book, and he then brought back to England the printers, binders, types and presses, and finished the book in 1539. The edition was 2,500 copies. One was set up in every church in England. The book passing through seven editions must have made thousands of folio volumes; the binding of which certainly gave the Art some importance in England, even at that early date. Henry the VIII. possessed many splendid volumes bound in velvet, with gold bosses and ornaments. In his reign, too, the stamping of tools in gold appears to have been first introduced in England; and beautiful rolls, probably of Holbein's design, were used on the sides as well as on the gilded edges of books still in existence.

In the reign of Elizabeth some exquisite bindings were done in embroidery. The Queen herself used to work covers with gold and silver thread, spangles, and colored silk for bibles and other devotional works, which she presented to her maids of honor, and her friends.

To proceed to French binders, De Thou, President of the Parliament of Paris next invites our attention.

De Thou was extremely particular in the choice of his books; especially in regard to their size. His library consisted of the rarest and most curious books, sought and purchased regardless of expense. (The library has been dispersed.) The favorite binding of De Thou was red morocco. His bindings were not covered with the same species of arabesque ornament employed by Grolier. His coat of arms generally appears in the centre of the side.

Padaloup, L'Abbe du Sueil and De Rome are binders of eminence who prominently succeeded De Thou. Padaloup was fond of red morocco outsides and insides, with a fillet

*Diana was forty when she was the professed mistress of Henry II. that monarch being at the time only eighteen years of age; she ruled him for 20 years with entire ascendancy, but it has been urged that although on the one hand, Henry lost, in the society of his accomplished mistress, that violence and even brutality of disposition, for which he was distingished, yet on the other he contracted a love of expense of show and extravagance which deranged his finances and shook the credit of his government. There is one piece of extravagance of which she was probably guilty and from which the most virtuous bibilomaniac will readily grant her absolution. It is the suggestion, (I verily believe it came from her,) of having one copy of every book, to which the royal privilege was extended printed upon vellum and handsomely bound, to be deposited in the royal library. This Edict was issued by Henry in 1556, but Diana was assuredly at the bottom of it. In 1552 Henry employed Philibert de Lorme, to build the famous chateau d'Anet for his mistress There are several birdseye views of this building in the Plus Excellens Bastimens de France, of Androuet 1576 folio, and Lenoir, in his Monumens Francais, has exhibited specimens of some of the furniture of the Castle to which said Castle, on the death of Henry in 1559, our Diana of Bibliomaniacs wholly retired till her death in 1566. Dibdin.

*His early life was sickly and the care of his health was the chief occupation of his attendants up to his tenth year. It is said his chief amusement during his youthful illness was the exercise of his pencil in illuminating precious little scraps of old vellum Mss. He was brought up to the church under his uncle, in the cloisters of Nostre Dame. Here he "began to lay the foundation of his library, which, in the end, was so vast and celebrated."

"In 1593 De Thou succeeded Amyot to the principal Librarianship of the Royal Collection, and had been scarcely seated two years in the velvet chair of presidentship, when he was accessory to the restitution of the famous manuscript Bible of Charles the Bald, which the rogues of 'religious,' at the Abbey of St. Denis, were about to dispose of for filthy lucre. De Thou had purveyors in all countries to secure large paper or tine paper copies. Yet Marville goes farther; he not only says that when any work was printed at Paris or abroad, he took care to secure two or three copies upon fine or large paper, expressly for himself and at his own expensebut that he usually purchased several copies, from which he selected the most beautiful sheets and from them, composed one super-eminent copy."

or border of gold upon each. His fly-leaf was frequently of gold. His ornaments consisted chiefly of small dots, and his elegant forms when found in good order, look like gold lace upon the sides and back of the book. De Sueil resembles him somewhat, though his style is bolder. He was fond of a variety of colors upon his morocco covers.

Regarding De Rome Dibbin says: "I frankly confess that a rod has been preserved in pickle' within three feet of my writing desk for the last three years. De Rome was like his predecessors of the 18th Century, a GREAT CROPPER; for cropping was the watchword and reply' of the French School of binding.' The Doctor seems to have had his bibliomaniacal ire aroused by some of the solidly gilded edges of this artist. De Rome's execution is very exact-the boards are square and the workmanship is true. His decorated patterns of the LOUIS QUATORZE style with elegant dentelle borders are considered very fine.

In England, since the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, binding advanced to a high pitch of excellence in mechanical skill, yet the standard of ornament was not of a very high character. Roger Payne was the first Englishman who produced a really good binding, and for the time in which he lived, the ornament on his books was very praiseworthy; some of his best works, such as French romances, were powdered with fleur de lis. His books on chivalry had suitable devices, such as helmets, spurs, gauntlets, and the like; and on poetical works he used a simple lyre. He did all with his own hands, from the folding, beating, sewing, cutting, mending, headbanding, coloring his end-papers, to the making of his own tools and letters. His ornaments were the boast of his binding. They were chaste, beautiful, and most correctly executed; and his side-covers were the field in which he shone most conspicuously. The backs of his books were somewhat irregular and clumsy.

He was an extremely dissipated man. With his genius, a proper attention to business, would have rendered him happy and prosperous; but he was so fond of guzzling, that he seemed to prefer garments all tattered and torn, to go slip-shod, and appear dirty, ragged and forsaken, than to give up his "ale, the true liquor of life." His appearance bespoke squalid wretchedness, or a foolish and fierce indifference to the received opinions of mankind. His hair was unkempt; his visage elongated; his attire wretched; and the interior of his workshop —where, like the Turk, he would bear no brother near his throne, harmonized but too justly with the general character and appearance of its owner. With the greatest possible display of humility in speech and in writing, he united quite the spirit of quixotic independence.

Roger, proud of his talents and regardless of his dress, at one time thrust himself upon the Countess Spencer when she was dressing for court, very much to the consternation of her hair-dresser. Such a compound-such a motly union was never probably before concentrated in one individual.

Earl Spencer became a patron of Payne, and many of his finest productions ornamented the shelves of the Spencerian library.

Sobriety seems to be as good 'policy' as 'honesty'; for, from the lack of that virtue, poor Roger soon grew ragged and wretched, and such was the state of his penury, that he was often obliged to make his own tools-and those of iron! Yet is this fact probably the greatest compliment to his genius; for, in despite of such tools, he occasionally turned out' work which astonished the uninitiated and of which the Beauclerks, Cracherodes, and Stanleys of the day were absolutely enamored..

*At the mention of this magical name, in the Annals of Bibliopegism, uprise also the spirit and heart's blood of the Bibliomaniac, * * *Roger betook himself to Eton when he grew to man's estate, later he was drawn to London. There he was established in buisness by the aid of a bookseller, ** At what precise period Roger's love of "Barley broth," in preference to 'sack' began to evince itself, has not been thoroughly ascertained; but the fact has been too unequivocally substantiated that instead of laying by money for 'chariot or coach' our Roger bethought himself only of the said barley broth. Like Falstaff our bibliopegestic knight preferred his drink to his meat. Mr. Payne, the worthy Bibliopolist, and Son of the Protector of Roger, hath a pleasaunt conceited jest' hereupon. He rememberth well a memorandum of monies spent' of our Roger, which was endited after the following fashion.