| I mentioned on the first page of this analysis of the 1696 Breviary that appeared on eBay some weeks ago, the imprint shown above (antipod). Now that I have attempted to make high resolution scans and photos, I can present it here. However the work is far from finished. A 2400dpi photo might reveal some surprising details that are only just barely visible here. This Boyet imprint is found on all of his restrospective Louis XIII-Anne d'Autriche bindings. |
| Thoinan (Ernest), pseudonym of Antoine Ernest Roquet, 1827-1894, was probably the greatest expert on subject of French Bookbinding, that ever lived, his work entitled Les relieurs français (1500-1800) has served as a sort of bible on the whole subject for well over a century, no expert today, can consider themselves an expert without knowing this book inside out. Yet for as great as his knowledge was he was fooled by the Boyet bindings, and mixed Boyet's tools with those of the 17th century. The proof of this comes from Thoinans own drawings. In describing the decoration books from the 17th century he illustrated Boyet's tools as being 17th century examples. |
| I point out Thoinan's error not to criticize him but to show just how extraordinary Boyet's work was and is still today hundreds of years later you can pick up a binding by Boyet, even after use for centuries, the leather is still remarkably soft and holding up well, with shine as though it was still new. |
| What are such treasures worth? The retrospective binding shown above was estimated by the auction experts to bring between 12 and 16.000 euros, it sold for 41.000. This seems to me far short of the real value, of a hand made, three hundred year old work of art, by one of the greatest decorative bookbinding artists who ever lived, Royal binder to Louis XIV... well lets return to our binding from eBay, I show above the spine and in all the searching I have done, in the probably over one hundred Boyet examples that I have seen, this is the first with this fleuron in the center of the compartments, it's rare indeed, and surly has a fascinating history to tell us. |
| On the next page we are going to look at the spine palette, Conihout Type IV. |
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click here to return to the INDEX of new (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. |
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