Shelving Books the old-fashioned way

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Book Collecting, chained library, ezra the scribe, fore-edge painting, franceso righetti, libraries, odorico pillone, shelving, spines, thomas brooke, william cartwright

These days we tend to shelf books ‘spine out’ and publishers, conveniently, usually reproduce the title, author and other helpful details on the spine so that we can easily run our eyes along a shelf to find a particular book.  But it wasn’t always thus!

This 17th century painting by Guercino shows the Italian lawyer and one time governor of Cento in northern Italy, Francesco Righetti, at home in his library.  Righetti is surrounded by his law books, speaking to his learning and erudition.  But his books are shelved ‘tail end’ out, with the titles written on the base of the text block.

Portrait of Franceso Righetti by Guercino, 1626-8

Look too at this engraving of the poet William Cartwright (printed in 1651 as a frontispiece to his ‘Poems and Plays’).  Again, he’s in his library and his books can be seen – this time with the fore-edges facing out from the shelves and the spines neatly tucked in against the rear walls and hidden.  This was a common practice in the 16th and 17th centuries. Imagine shelving books with gilded page edges in this way – they would have gleamed and glistened, catching the candlelight, in quite a glorious way.  Some medieval manuscripts and early printed books now in rare book collections have the title and other details written on in several different places, reflecting changes in shelving the preferences of owners and book collectors over time.

William Cartwright and his books, frontispiece from his Poems and Plays (1651)

The Embroidered Book, The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul (1544)

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beautiful books, Bodleian Library, Book Collecting, Bookbinding, elizabeth I, embroidered books, Katherine Parr, Synneful Soul

Embroidered Binding of The Miroir or Glasse of the Synneful Soul, 1544

It is common now to associate old and antiquarian books with leather bindings – the cherished patinas and leathery smells, embellished perhaps with armorial motifs or previous owners’ library markings giving a sense of permanence and authenticity.   But it wasn’t until around the time of the Restoration in the latter part of the 17th century that English bookbinders took up the French fashion of working almost exclusively in leather. Until then “English bookbinders had never been content to regard leather as the sole material in they could work”.  Books bound in cloth (binders most commonly used canvas but velvet and satin were also used) and decoratively embellished with embroidery have a long history: there is a embroidered Psalter, now in the British Library collection, which was stitched by one Anne Felbrigge towards the end of the 14th century. Embroidery as means of binding books was especially popular, among those who could afford such luxuries, in the Tudor age.  Silver and gold threats were often used, with the base material perhaps studded with pearls or other jewels, to create an unrivaled decorative effect.

The finely bound books of Monique Lallier

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beautiful books, Book Collecting, designer bookbinding, fine binding, monique lallier

This morning, while looking for something else entirely, I stumbled upon the stunning work of US-based bookbinder Monique Lallier.  I thought I’d use this post to share a flavour of her works with others.

Monique Lallier is, according to the Library of Syracuse University, an ‘internationally recognised’ bookbinder and book artist who trained in her native Canada and then in Paris and Switzerland with Hugo Peller.  She is now works and teaches out of studios in Summerfield, North Carolina which she shares with her husband, the renown English-born bookbinder Don Etherton.

Lallier’s work can be found in the collections of McGill University, Montreal; Louisiana State University, the University of North Carolina as well as in many private collections in the US, Europe, Canada and Japan (although, sadly, not in mine!).  She has exhibited extensively, including with the Guild of Bookworkers and is a Director of the American Academy of Bookbinding.  My interest in designer bookbinder is relatively new which may explain why I have not come across her work before – but given the beauty of her work, newness can’t excuse it.

This is one of my favourites from those I’ve seen so far.

La Petite Poule d’Eau bu Gabrille Roy, bound by Monique Lallier

In this example, Lallier has used a french binding technique and a process called lacunose, which involves sanding different pieces of leather as well as lots of time and muscle-power, to cover a copy of La Petite Poule d’Eau by Gabrielle Roy. La Petite Poule d’Eau tells the story of a village in Canada and Lallier has said of this binding that she was seeking to convey a sense of the village’s physical structure and its colourful characters.  I think it works.

Rachael Ward-Sale & Darkmans (Beautiful Books No. 2)

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Bookbinding, darkmans, Designer Bookbinders, man booker prize, nicola barker, rachel ward-sale

Today’s offering in BookAddiction’s beautiful books stakes a contemporary one.  Every year, for each of those novels shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, a special, unique binding is commissioned from a leading bookbinder.  The resulting small collection of beautifully bound volumes is usually exhibited at some point in the Victoria and Albert Museum.

It is Darkmans by Nicola Barker (published by Fourth Estate, 2007) which was on the Man Booker shortlist in 2007. This one caught my eye for its boldness, striking use of strong colours and the absence of any titles on the cover.  It is brazen and in that is in keeping with Barker’s novel, itself an epic and outspoken (and very good) novel set in Ashford, with the action taking place over just a few short days.  The beautiful binding is by Rachel Ward-Sale, founder of Bookbinders of Lewes and a fellow of Designer Bookbinders.

Covered: Beauty & Art in Contemporary Bookbinding

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Book Fair, Bookbinders, Bookbinding, Designer Bookbinders, fine bindings, handbound books, Hannah Brown, jeanette koch, Jo Spaul, julian thomas, Kyffin Williams, London, London International Antiquarian Book Fair, Rare Books London, St Bride Foundation, Truman Capote, Urban Birds

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s fascinating tour of the London International Antiquarian Book Fair (of which more later), led by a member of Designer Bookbinders, I see there is also an exhibition currently running at the St Bride Foundation featuring the work of current Designer Bookbinder fellows, licentiates and members.

Designer Bookbinders is one of the foremost bookbinding societies in the world. Its Fellows are widely credited with an international reputation for ‘a progressive influence on the art, design and technique of the handbound book’ (Julian Thomas in Kyffin: A Celebration, 2008, p.5).  This may well be true – I have not the experience or skills to judge – but what I can be sure of is that the society’s members make some of the most stunningly beautiful books being produced today.  It was such a treat to be able not only to see such well-conceived, achingly visual books but also handle (supervised, and very carefully – I was quite nervous!) a couple during Rare Books London, that a visit to this exhibition to gorge on more is a must for me next weekend.

The ‘Covered: Beauty and Art in Contemporary Bookbinding”  exhibition, which opened on 27 May and continues to 6 June, features the work of more than 30 bookbinders associated with Designer Bookbinders. It’s open daily – from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday and 11.00 am to 4.00 pm on Saturday. It’s a selling exhibition so if you’re feeling flush, you can take a souvenir or two home with you.

Below are two recent prize-winning bindings from Designer Bookbinders members to give you a flavour of what may be in the exhibition.

Urban Birds Published by Incline Press, Oldham 1999.  A collection of cuts by Jo Spaul, with accompanying poems from an English anthology of poetry through the ages. Binding by Jeanette Koch, Designer Bookbinders Fellow