46. Bound by Carayon.
47. Bound by Carayon.
Chambolle most worthily continues the traditions associated with the name of his father. As an interpreter of the past he has a place apart and almost untouched by the main revolutionary movement that has penetrated nearly every atelier in Paris, and modified, if not overturned, its inherited traditions. To him are confided the classics of former times, which he clothes in the styles appropriate to them, keeping to a simplicity of ornamentation which reveals great taste and feeling for composition. Wisely enough, he rarely goes outside his own domain, where, in these days of reckless pursuit of novelty, he remains almost supreme.
Canape is a young binder of increasing reputation. At present he seems to specialize in what is called la gaufrure à froid, in which different-coloured moroccos are tooled without gold—a style which has been much in favour of late years, and in which Marius Michel was the first to effect great triumphs. His career has been watched with much interest for the last few years, and he is thought to be steadily taking place in the first rank.
Kieffer, too, is a binder whose work has a distinctly personal touch, and whose bindings have an individuality of their own. The reproductions shown testify to a certain largeness of conception in design, which, though somewhat mannered, has distinct value.
M. Pierre Roche has struck a new note in what he calls la reliure églomisée. It is work done on something of the same lines as that attempted by Mr. Cedric Chivers of Bath. He uses a transparent vellum which covers and protects the decoration, which thus appears, to use his own words, as if behind a veil. ‘C’est l’esprit du livre qui vient du dedans en dehors apparaître au travers des matières solides qui le protègent.’ A sculptor of great talent, this has been merely a recreation to him. He has done but a small number of books for a few distinguished clients, and, notwithstanding their success, has, like a true artist, refused to be drawn into manufacturing them, feeling it doubtful whether it is a style that should be popularized to any great extent, or rather remain as an occasional variation of the more accredited ways of book-cover decoration.
48. Bound by Chambolle.