P. 232. A good deal of information has gradually accumulated respecting the Venetian school of binding; but undoubted examples of early date remain singularly scarce. See my Venetian Republic, 1900, ii. 663, 728. The older school of French binding resembled that of the finer porcelain of Chantilly and Sèvres, where on a choice piece of the Louis XV. period are found, side by side, the separate marks of maker, painter, and gilder.
P. 244-5. English Binders. Add:—
- Edmond Richardson of Scalding Alley.
- Matthews. (Binder of the Hibbert, Wilkes, Gardner, and Huth copy of Shakespear, 1623.)
- Hayday. (Worked for W. Pickering.)
- Leighton.
- J. & J. Leighton. (This firm still does business in Brewer Street.)
- Douglas Cockerell.
- J. Larkins.
- Miss Prideaux.
- Sir Edward Sullivan.
R. Montague (1730-40), bookseller, publisher, and binder, had a place of business in 1732 at the corner of Great Queen Street, Drury Lane, and in 1740 in Great Wyld Street. He undertook to gild and letter books at his customers' own houses. John Bancks of Sunning was his journeyman. It was the late Mr. Huth who expressed to me the opinion that Bedford's brown calf should have been left to acquire a natural tone.
P. 248. Books with Painted and Goffered Edges.—I have seen volumes belonging to the first quarter of the sixteenth century with the leaves goffered and ornamentally inscribed; but the painted edge, as we know it, was then already in existence in Italy, and the most eminent artists did not disdain to execute this kind of embellishment. One family at Belluno long possessed numerous examples enriched by the hand of Cesare Vecellio. See my Venetian Republic, 1900, ii. 728. The major part of a sale at Sotheby's a year or so ago consisted of books treated on this principle by the owner; and the commercial result was not joyous.
P. 253. French and other Binders. Add:—
- Brodel Ainé et fils.
- Bisiques. (Famous for his Turkey leather.)
- Thouvenin.
- L. Muller. (Thouvenin's successor.)
The house of Marius-Michel combined binding and gilding. Among the Rothschild MSS., now in the British Museum, is a Boccaccio bound by Thomas Berthelet before 1552 for the Protector Somerset. It is in gilt calf with the motto: Foy povr Debvoir.
P. 263. The catalogue of the Early English Books in the British Museum was mainly the work of Mr. Eccles, a late member of the staff. A new, enlarged, and much improved edition by Mr. Pollard is in progress.
P. 271. That fairly familiar term, Unique, has been very badly entreated. A late eminent auctioneer, who was not shy of using it, tried to bring into vogue the variant form, Uni Que.