| I wanted to show something on this page and was distracted by another important subject and that is, decorative bindings on the Almanach Royals. It is nearly certain that most of these bindings were executed right after these Almanachs were published. This gives us a sort of time capsule on the work of the binders decorating them. On the previous page we were looking at the transitions within the mid dentelles arrangements of Derome, whether any of those dentelles were made by Jacques-Antoine Derome is uncertain, most were made after 1760. A thorough search of all the Almanach Royals before 1760 does not reveal many decorative bindings by either Derome le jeune or his father. However I have found a number of them all after 1770. So this then gives us some sort of chronological reference. Looking at the mid dentelle diagrams from the previous page we notice that there is a change of roulettes and also a change in the structural units, in particular Barber's FL 181 shown in Comparative Diagram 1. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, we see that Barber defines this pair of fleurons as; Pair of horn-shaped sprigs of small heads; fifteen elements. W.Cat.673. Firstly I think he meant to say beads and not heads, secondly if we consider that Barber usually lists all the bindings where he has found examples of the tool in question, and yet in this case with a very common Derome tool, he can only list one, W.Cat.673. This suggests that he has not seen very many Derome bindings even though he has attributed dozens and dozens of bindings to Derome in this book of his; Barber, Giles. The James A. de Rothschild Bequest at Waddesdon Manor : Catalogue of Printed Books and Bookbindings. Waddesdon Manor: The Rothschild Foundation, 2013. So we must turn to Barber's only reference to these sprigs… W.Cat.673. Shown at the top of this page, most of us never even knew that Derome used this kind of roulette and even Barber who ascribes just about EVERYTHING to Derome, has not blessed this binding with an N.-D-Derome attribution. Strange because there are number of obvious Derome tools here and FL 181 is certainly one. If we check back on the diagrams of the previous page we see that FL 181 looks to be replacing the very ancient and possibly J.-A. Derome tool jad-44a and 44b (see this.) This change seems to be happening near the end of the 60's so I thought it would be good to see what we can find in Alamanachs. In Retrospect the FL 181 does not replace the jad-44pair, it appears suddenly in the tools of Derome, appearing to do the same kind of work as the 44pair, however occasionally both pairs are seen in the same decoration, the chronological importance that I am hoping to pinpoint is just exactly when the FL 181 pair first appears. |
| This 1770 Almanach Royal is found in the Belles Reliures. Catalogue XII, Gumuchian and Cie, Paris, 1929, and I have shown it on another page (see this). At some point Derome changed from rather thick tassels to thin ones, I donÕt mean the roulettes, I mean the small bell shaped imprint that was a vital to bookbinding decorators as they were used, among other things, to designate hierarchical status in the church. The hierarchy of the Catholic Church consists of its bishops, priests, and deacons each one had more or less tassels in their armorial shields (see this). |
| In Comparative Diagram 4 I have collected 4 examples of this relatively rare Derome roulette, I have documented an early example previously (see this at the bottom of this page) this is the largest binding in this diagram and it was made, at least, by 1764 as indicated by the date on the spine. |
| In Comparative Diagram 6, I have collected together examples of this roulette, I started this previously on another page (see this) (imprint strips c, d, e, and f are from the 1764 Derome, strips g,h, and i are from the 1775 example, strip k is from the 217 portefeuille. Strips a and b are from a binding that we are going to examine thoroughly on the next page, it is shown together in Comparative Diagram 7 with a 1765 Paroissien. |
| In Comparative Diagram 7, we see a 1765 Paroissien and a 1758 Semaine Sainte. If we consider the Derome roulette shown on W.Cat.673 at the top of this page, is rare (for Derome) and may be from 1770 and is the same as found on this Paroissien. While the wide tassels on item 257, a 1770 Almanach Royal that is also decorated with the same arrangement of Derome tools, we might imagine that this Paroissien was perhaps also made around 1770. This I compare with a binding that I recently discovered on eBay, It covers a 1758 Semaine Sainte. The question is, when was this Semaine Sainte decorated by Derome le jeune? Certainly not in 1758! |
|
click here to return to the HOME page. click here to see the INDEX of the 2017 pages. see below links to previous work |
| 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. |
| Virtual Bookings, created by L. A. Miller | return to the Home page of VIRTUAL BOOKBINDINGS |