17th century bindings (5 risultati)

225 x 175 mm. (9 x 7"). Manuscript title page, [61] leaves. OPULENT VICTORIAN GOTHIC REVIVAL GREEN MOROCCO, GILT, by Alexander Stewart (stamp-signed in gilt on front pastedown, dated Edinburgh 1850), covers with a wide frame diapered in blind and studded with gilt stars, surrounded with a lacy gilt border, cornered with impressive raised brass bosses, this all surrounding a central raised oval, similarly decorated, raised bands, spine decorated in compartments, turn-ins gilt, scarlet silk moiré endleaves, the pastedowns with sculptural morocco inlays, all edges gilt and gauffered. WITH 61 17th CENTURY ENGRAVINGS depicting Old Testament scenes mounted on heavy stock, all protected by tissue guards, three partially colored by a later, amateurish hand. Plates trimmed a bit close at edges (the plate number at lower right often cut into), otherwise only the most trivial defects. The plates entirely fresh and containing bold impressions, and the binding gleaming and unworn. This most unusual album of Old Testament illustrations was put together in Edinburgh in 1850 using engravings apparently taken from a 17th century English work, and bound--with considerable imagination and vigor--in an appropriately gothic revival style. The elusive Alexander Stewart who bound the volume is not listed in Ramsden or in the Scottish Book Trade Index, but he was perhaps associated with, or successor to, one of the half-dozen binders named Stewart active in Edinburgh in the first half of the 19th century. The design and execution of this binding took considerable creativity, talent, and access to high quality materials, so it seems odd that we can find no record of the artisan in the usual reference materials or in auction records. It seems possible the Ebenezer Murray for whom it was created was the furniture dealer lister in the 1851 Edinburgh census. This intriguing object stands as a testament to the Victorian enthusiasms both for the Gothic style and for making decorative use, as John Ruskin did, of images cut from old books and manuscripts.…

203 x 127 mm. (8 x 5"). 4 p.l. (first blank), xxxii, 629, [3] pp. REGAL CONTEMPORARY RED MOROCCO, GILT, covers with French fillet border, central field semé with alternating fleur-de-lys and Louis XIV's stylized "L" topped with a crown, raised bands, spine compartments with crowned "L" at center, oblique fleur-de-lys at corners, marbled endpapers, olive green morocco label, all edges gilt. Printer's device on title page and four engraved plates, depicting the Entry into Jerusalem, the Crucifixion, the Descent into Hell, and the Resurrection. Front pastedown with morocco bookplate of Hans Fürstenberg; verso of front free endpaper with book label of the Fondation Fürstenberg. USTC 6098649. For the binding: Olivier, Pl. 2493, Fer no. 8. Top inner corner of covers a shade darker (but apparently not from moisture), boards tending to splay slightly, corners a bit bumped, endpapers with offsetting from binder's glue, but the binding lustrous, with very little wear to the joints, and generally pleasing. About a quarter of the leaves with small, faint dampstain at upper gutter, intermittent minor browning and foxing (more pronounced on a couple of quires), other unserious signs of devout use, but the text with nothing approaching a fatal defect. Bound for a distinguished library--and perhaps for a member of the French royal household--and with an illustrious modern provenance, this is a pleasing copy of a 17th century Parisian edition of the Office of Holy Week. The attractive engravings that accompany these paschal hours demonstrate the lush, graceful style that distinguished the fine late baroque printmakers. The scenes of the Crucifixion and Resurrection were engraved by Jean Morin (ca. 1605-50), whose innovation of combining engraving and etching on the same plate ushered in a new popular style of printmaking, and the depiction of the Entry into Jerusalem by Flemish artist Peter Paul Bouche (fl. ca. 1685-1702) is especially pleasing. But the story of this volume is its period binding. The owner who commissioned the binding may well have been a member of the noted Lamoignon family, whose celebrated library was built over several generations, but particularly by Chrétien-François de Lamoignon I (1644-1709), a cultivated man of letters and friend to writers such as Boileau and Racine. The "L" surmounted by a crown appears typically on the family bindings (though normally accompanied by the same cypher stamped in the margin of the third leaf of text, a stamp that is not present here). The impressive library was sold to bookseller Thomas Payne, and auctioned off in 1791-92. Equally (or, really, unequally) the repeating motif of Louis XIV's crowned "L" monogram could well indicate that this was the property of royalty. We have not been able to identify its specific owner, but this style of semis was not uncommon for royal bindings; the Russian National Library has two late 17th century examples with Louis XIV's own arms over an identical ground. According to Olivier, the semis repetition alternating the monarch's initial with a fleur-de-lys or with a specific royal's cipher became popular during the reign of Louis XIII and continued under his successors; "the result for royal bindings is a sort of uniformity in the ornamentation which seems to reflect, in the field of art, the unification and centralization of France." Our binding's crisp, precise tooling has survived beautifully despite apparent dedicated devotional use by its early owner. Our copy is further distinguished by coming from the collection of Hans (or Jean) Fürstenberg (1890-1982), a bibliophile of refined discrimination who assembled one of the great collections of the 20th century and whose books were noted for their outstanding condition. He put together one of the finest collections of 18th century French books ever assembled, and his library contained a discriminating selection of bindings from other periods, such as the present example. …

172 x 118 mm. (6 3/4 x 4 3/4"). [3], 34 leaves, 35-39, [1] pp., [2] leaves. LOVELY CRIMSON CRUSHED MOROCCO, GILT AND ONLAID, BY CAPÉ (stamp-signed on front turn-in), covers with onlaid green morocco cornerpieces and central quatrefoil, all filled and surrounded by delicate pointillé tooling in floral and paisley designs, raised bands, spine compartments tooled in pointillé, gilt lettering, richly gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. In a felt-lined, morocco-lipped marbled paper slipcase. ENGRAVED THROUGHOUT, WITH 38 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS, consisting of one portrait, two allegorical religious scenes (including title), and 35 illustrations of the Holy Eucharist, 40 pages of engraved text, 37 of these with text flanked by full-length figures of saints, accompanied by other religious symbols at head and foot of page, two framed with vignettes of angels or the Madonna, one page with text only. Front pastedown with "A W F" book label of bookseller Adrian Fluhmann. Duportal, "Étude sur les livres à figures," pp. 244-45; Brunet V, 624; Graesse VI, 4; Leaves perhaps (very lightly) washed and pressed, but an extremely fresh, clean copy IN A SPARKLING BINDING. Covered by a luxurious binding by Capé, this is a particularly attractive copy of a sumptuously illustrated prayer book composed entirely of engraved plates. According to Duportal, it is "One of three important publications whose engravings reveal the trend characteristic of religious illustrations in France between 1601 and 1660." The work opens with a dedication to Charles d'Aubespine, Marquis de Châteauneuf (1580-1653), with a full-page portrait by Guillame de Gheyn (b. 1610). The bulk of the book is made up of two groups of plates. Those in the first group, appearing primarily on the rectos, contain prayers in Latin and French flanked by pairs of saints; gaps in the prayers are filled by naturalistic flowers, insects, and birds. Many of these plates also include a scene (or two) in miniature, depicting the life of one or both of the saints or a vignette of angels. While just two of these engravings are signed "J. Collin," they all appear to be in the same hand, which demonstrates an impressive level of finesse and delicacy, depicting graceful figures with sure, light lines. Duportal notes that this artist had a "talent charmant," and that well-executed dry-points of this type are quite rare in French books of the period. The second group of engravings appear strictly on the versos, and depict the performance of a part of the Mass, beneath a cloud in which appears a relevant scene from the life of Christ. They are all unsigned, and clearly by a different hand with more rustic features--possibly "copies of originals published abroad," according to Duportal. The book concludes with two leaves of text framed by gamboling putti and the Virgin. Copies of this work can be found with varying numbers of leaves and engravings (apparently the result of multiple reprintings with added material produced between 1651-53), but the present item can be distinguished as an early (if not the very first) edition, as it does not contain "Privilege du Roy" dated 1652 or 1653. Furthermore, our copy also contains the earliest state of the plates, without the "I N R I" initials on the cross found on the title page, and with the earlier state of the verso engravings (before they were substantially reworked). Our edition seems to be quite rare, with OCLC finding just one other copy with the same sequence of contents, at the Bibliothèque Sainte-Genevieve. The stunning binding by Capé looks just as fresh and lustrous as the day it left its workshop. One of the most distinguished binders in France in the middle years of the 19th century, Capé (d. 1867) was especially well known for the delicacy of his work--which can be appreciated to full effect in the present example. He was the binder to the Empress Eugénie, and Béraldi calls him "the Bozérian of the second Empire." This is precisely the k.…

FIRST EDITION. 179 x 120 mm. (7 x 4 3/4"). 10 p.l., 496, 35, [1] pp. EXTREMELY FINE 19TH CENTURY RED MOROCCO BY HARDY (stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in), covers with gilt coat of arms and French fillet border, raised bands, compartments ruled in gilt and with elegant gilt floral and foliate tooling, gilt lettering, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt. Front free endpaper with bookplate of poet Auguste P. Garnier (1885-1966). Tchemerzine IX, 332. âTrivial imperfections only: A VERY FINE COPY INSIDE AND OUT. In a very handsome binding by one of the most widely sought-after binders of the turn of the 20th century, this is a beautifully preserved volume of verse by a founding member of the Académie française. A protégé of Malherbe, Honorat de Bueil, Seigneur de Racan (1589-1670) is primarily known for his elegant pastoral and religious poetry, which, as Britannica notes, succeeds at "preserving the elegiac lyricism of an earlier age and foreshadowing the gentle melancholy of Alphonse de Lamartine." According to Tchemerzine, the present work is "the most complete edition of Racan's religious works," and is in large part composed of his verse interpretations of the Psalms. The Hardy atelier produced luxurious volumes, many of them armorial, for a range of 19th century connoisseurs. (Although we have not been able to identify the coat of arms on the covers, the crown with pearls indicates that the owner bore the title of "Comte.") Among other connections in the bibliopegic world, Henri Hardy employed Jean Marius Michel as a gilder near the start of his career; he also worked with Charles Meunier and Émile Mercier before meeting Robert Hoe in Paris and agreeing to come to New York in early 1896 to serve as foreman of the newly established Club Bindery. In 1917, Hardy, along with his compatriots Leon Maillard and Gaston Pilon, formed the French Binders, with the stated intention of "bringing together distinguished members of the craft to afford them opportunity to work under the most advantageous conditions." The present item is an excellent example of Hardy's earlier work, is in outstanding condition inside and out, and makes an excellent impression on the shelf. The bookplate on the flyleaf indicates that it was once owned by the French poet Auguste P. Garnier (1885-1966), who later ran the Garnier publishing house established by his family in 1833.…

First Edition in German. 160 x 100 mm. (6 1/4 x 4"). 16 p.l., 699, [3] pp. Translated from the Latin by Sebastian ?ntzenhover. UNUSUAL AND QUITE BEAUTIFUL CONTEMPORARY GERMAN DARK RED MOROCCO, GILT, covers with gilt fillet border, central panel with onlaid corner pieces and centerpiece of black morocco stamped in relief to an Ottoman-inspired design of flowering vines, raised bands, spine panels with gilt centerpiece, two leather straps with silver clasps and catches, all edges gilt. Title page with engraving of the Tower of Babel. Top half inch of title page cut away (to remove owner inscription?). VD17 12:103845E; USTC 2019170. A touch of bowing to boards, spine a little crackled, joints and extremities a bit rubbed, occasional small, round marginal marks, apparently made with wax(!) and presumably meant to indicate textual importance, other trivial imperfections, but an excellent copy, clean and fresh, in an unrestored?binding with lustrous boards glistening with gilt. This rare work on sinning through the use of wicked words is offered here in a lovely binding that is quite out of the ordinary for its time and place and that may well have a very noble provenance. "Spiritual Tongues: That is, a Salutary Treatise Concerning the Poisonous Tongue of Man--How to Guard Against and Remedy It" is an examination of the sins committed through speaking written by Munich Jesuit Johannes Pelecyus (1545?1623) and first printed, in Latin, in 1620. Pelecyus addresses the evils of gossip, slander, indiscretion, cursing, mocking, and other injurious speech. The first part of the work is a general overview of the topic from a theological standpoint, while the second part is a more practical guide to types of harmful speech, and specific remedies for avoiding and correcting these offenses. Pelecyus concludes with a poem "The Devil's Disease and its Remedy." The binding here is remarkable in terms of its material makeup and the conjectural origin of its design.?In the first part of the 17th century, morocco was not commonly used by German binders, who preferred sturdier pigskin, particularly for treatises like this, which could be expected to see much use (poisonous tongues have long been a fact of life and in need of being frequently read about). Morocco was generally reserved for presentation copies or ceremonial liturgical works. In addition to the material, the decoration here is unusually lavish for a text of this sort, with onlays, gilt adornment, and silver clasps that required time and skill from the artisan, and considerable expense for the patron. Significantly, the lovely relief centerpiece design on the boards here also appears on the covers of a Book of Hours originally created for Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1459-1519). That volume was later acquired by another similarly named owner, Duke Maximilian I of Bavaria (and is now to be found in the Bavarian State Library: shelfmark BSB 2 L.impr.membr. 64). It is certainly well within the realm of possibility that our later Maximilian (1573-1651) could have owned the present poisoned tongue volume and had it dressed in its elaborate morocco attire in imitation of the original binding design on the emperor?s prayer book. Whoever was responsible for the binding, they surely did extremely fine work, and no doubt for an elite clientele. One other curious feature of this volume is the series of round wax dollops made in the margins, which an owner (the fastidious second Maximilian?) has used to mark passages of interest in the text. While they don't materially affect the value of the volume, they are intriguing in that they inevitably call up images for us of a careful early reader systematically marking with some kind of unknown implement the parts of the text that seemed important. "Spiritual Tongues" is a rare work: USTC and OCLC find just four copies outside Germany, none of them in North America, and we could trace just one copy sold at auction.…