| The reproduction of the sumptuous binding shown above is found in the British Library Database of Bookbinding (click here to see it). I have often wondered who might have been the author of this Royal binding, and noticed a few other bindings that appeared to share common tools. Now I have found a possible link to these bindings it comes from Barber's catalogue of tools, found in his book The James A. de Rothschild Bequest at Waddesdon Manor. Printed Books and Bookbindings, Giles Barber 2013. |
| In Comparative Diagram 1, I show Barber's DCT 16 compared with an imprint from the Davis565, there are many small details that lead me to think that these two imprints are the same, deriving from the same tool and if we are lucky that tool belonged to René-François Fétil, Barber states that Fétil's ticket is found inside this binding. Below I show part of Leon Gruel's page where he has mentioned Fetil as well as reproduced a copy of his ticket (etiquette). Gruel was not impressed with the work of Fétil, however Fétil appears to have anyway reached the top of the ladder with a number of Royal bindings in his showcase. |
| I show above a catalogue entry from the Bibliotheque national de France, it was hard to find but its there, the BnF does not list him in their list of binders, so you will not find a binding by Fetil in the BnF unless by accident. A search of the internet does not turn up any bindings by Fétil, if you search for his name or his etiquette, however it is possible to find bindings that were obviously made by the same person who made Davis565. First we need to extract a few more important imprints from this binding to be able to compare them with those of other bindings, the first most obvious is one that Barber has identified as DCR 28. Shown below this imprint is very close to the Davis565 example, these imprints appear to be copies of Lemonnier's tool of this shape, however there are significant differences that separate these tools and as such they are easily distinguished one from another. |
| Now when we extract the next most obvious characteristic imprint (shown below) and then search for it in Barber's catalogue of tools we have an "ah ha" moment here is another Fétil tool, DCT 38, Barber's illustration of this is obviously two tools linked together, we see in the details of this imprint an open space in the supports which is mirrored in the Davis565 examples, as shown by the green arrows in Comparative Diagram 3, and the yellow arrows indicating that this part is not attached as can be seen in all the Davis565 examples. |
| Now we are on a lucky roll as there are only a few important imprints left to check and sure enough they are also found in Barber's catalogue and designated as coming from a signed Fétil. The FR 16 fronds match the Davis565 examples. This then confirms that Davis565 was in all probability, made by René-François Fétil. This is really a great discovery as we can now add a number of bindings that share these same tools as well as revealing even more tools that will help us identify more Fétil bindings. |
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| 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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