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![ornaments-of-the-world:
A Parisian Binding for the “English Grolier”
Jean Calvin (1509–1564). Brieve instruction… contre les erreurs de la secte commune des anabaptistes. Geneva: Jehan Girard, 1545.
[Bound with:] Jean Calvin. Contre la secte phantastique et furieuse des Libertins, qui se nomment spirituelz. Geneva: Jehan Girard, 1545.
One of the signature styles of Renaissance bookbinding is closely associated with the outstanding French collector Jean Grolier (1479–1565). This elaborate style consists of narrow interlacing strapwork that is gilded and painted or enameled so as to stand in contrast to the background leather. Closely related to bindings made for Grolier, this calfskin binding belongs to a group of similar strapwork bindings that all feature the gold-tooled date “1552” at the centers of the covers. The “1552” bindings were produced in a Parisian atelier that bound books for Thomas Wotton (1521–1587) of Kent, who has been called the “English Grolier.” The first Englishman to assemble a library of gold-tooled bindings, Wotton appears to have traveled to France several times by 1552, where he evidently was inspired by Grolier’s library. His own library, from which at least 140 books survive, suggests that he was well-read in the Classics and theology in Latin and French, with special interest in works by the Swiss Reformer Jean Calvin.
Source http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/Collections/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/SixCenturiesofMasterBookBinding/16thCentury/EnglishGrolier](http://25.media.tumblr.com/0a21b692fe539aa5cde748e34a1a95a1/tumblr_mntj3cKmjx1s68ziuo1_250.jpg)
![ornaments-of-the-world:
A Machine-Made “Gothic” Binding
The Preacher. Chromolithographs by Owen Jones. [London]: Longman & Company, 1849.
This binding provides a prime example of both the Victorian taste for highly decorative “medieval” bindings and of nineteenth-century industrial ingenuity. It is one of a limited number of such bindings made for this edition of the Book of Ecclesiastes, “illuminated” in neo-Gothic style with chromolithographs designed by the noted calligrapher Owen Jones (1809–1874). The light wooden relievo covers, designed by Jones and made by Edmonds & Remnants, London, were produced by heat stamping in a machine press. They effectively imitate the carving on Flamboyant Gothic architecture and church furnishings, even if they bear little resemblance to actual Gothic bookbindings. The upper cover of The Preacher features rich foliate decoration surrounding the calligraphic title, while both covers are framed on the top, left, and right edges by the words, “Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher, all is vanity.” Moulded lengthwise on the narrow leather spine are the words, “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
Source http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/Collections/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/SixCenturiesofMasterBookBinding/19thCentury/MachineMadeGothic](http://25.media.tumblr.com/513b033c46c5f7e804bcf7ca6f14ac2f/tumblr_mnthg9lvlS1s68ziuo1_250.jpg)
![ornaments-of-the-world:
A Jeweled Binding by Sangorski & Sutcliffe
Alfred Lord Tennyson (1809–1892). The Lady of Shalott. Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by Alberto Sangorski.[London: For the Grolier Society, c. 1910].
Sangorski & Sutcliffe was one of England’s foremost luxury binding firms during the early decades of the twentieth century. Founded in London in 1901 by the Polish émigré Francis Longinus Sangorski (1875–1912) and George Sutcliffe (1878–1943), the firm began in 1905 to specialize in magnificent custom-made jeweled leather bindings. Some of their most lavish efforts were reserved for unique literary manuscripts like this one, written in neo-Gothic calligraphy with elaborate Pre-Raphaelite illuminations by the binder’s brother, Alberto Sangorski (1862–1932). The firm’s greatest work, a large-format copy of the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám that incorporated more than 1,000 jewels, went down with the S.S. Titanic in 1912. Although Tennyson’s romantic poem The Lady of Shalott is set in the medieval realm of Camelot, the calfskin binding inlaid with colored goatskin evokes the floral opulence of Islamic art. The six-pointed recessed panel on the upper cover, containing eight opals around a single carnelian, serves as a handsome centerpiece, while the contrast between the turquoise arabesque shapes with cream bellflowers and the surrounding black fields of leafy red roses creates the effect of cornerpieces. On the lower cover, this design is echoed by fields of gilt roses on turquoise.
Source http://www.smu.edu/Bridwell/Collections/SpecialCollectionsandArchives/Exhibitions/SixCenturiesofMasterBookBinding/20thCentury/SangorskiSutcliffe](http://25.media.tumblr.com/ba0803401a6f97d4fe5103795f70a1b0/tumblr_mnti7rJe8q1s68ziuo1_250.jpg)
