DOI Heft:
No. 58 (December, 1901)
DOI Artikel:Uzanne, Octave: Paul Kersten's decorative leather work
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.22772#0150
Paul Kersten s Leather PVork
of contemporary binders well
known in Paris and in London.
At any rate, he was absolutely
honest in his conviction.
Having dealt with the tech-
nical side of the question,
Mr. Kersten, in the article
He should have no cause to
regret this act of independence
and legitimate pride, for it is
to be hoped German biblio-
philes will all go to him ; and
doubtless France and England
will demand from him speci-
mens of his masterly produc-
tions. He is now on the
high-road to success, and it is
only right that attention should
be drawn to his curious and
restrained method of decorat-
ing morocco.
Mr. Paul Kersten is not only
a most skilful practitioner of
his art, but a subtle theorician
thereon — one might say an
apostle. I remember to have
read a few years ago in some German magazine a
certain “Causerie d’un specialiste,” by Mr. Kersten,
which showed that he possessed a very clear and
very acute sense of his subject. After having
plainly and concisely demonstrated the proper
method of making an artistic binding, which should
combine the double result of
technical beauty and aesthetic
harmony, Mr. Kersten endea-
voured to show that German
binding was in no way inferior,
either decoratively or as sheer
workmanship, to French bind-
BOOKBINDING
BOOKBINDING
ing. I cannot
go so far as to
say his demon-
stration was
conclusive; he
seemed to
ignore much
of the work
BY P. KERSTEN
already men-
tioned, treat-
ed of its his-
torical aspect
from the fif-
teenth cen-
BOOK BIN DING
BY P. KERSTEN
tury, revealing abundant
erudition and a remark-
able knowledge of all his
predecessors in all the
countries of Europe. He
traced back the intro-
duction of art binding
into Germany—that is
to say, bindings with
gilding on leather—to
the middle of the six-
teenth century only.
According to him, its
origin was Venetian and
the introducers were the
Frankfort libraires, who
at each annual fair sold
by p. kersten a great number of books
printed in Venice, partly
by learned German monks such as Mutianus
Rufus, of the monastery of Georgenthal, who sent
to their native country many admirable books
wholly bound. In any case, the cradle of German,
or, to be more exact, of Saxon binding, was the
University of Wittenberg, founded in 1502 by the
Elector Frederic the Good.
Having awarded full praise to the heavy leathern
”5
BY P. KERSTEN
BOOKBINDING
of contemporary binders well
known in Paris and in London.
At any rate, he was absolutely
honest in his conviction.
Having dealt with the tech-
nical side of the question,
Mr. Kersten, in the article
He should have no cause to
regret this act of independence
and legitimate pride, for it is
to be hoped German biblio-
philes will all go to him ; and
doubtless France and England
will demand from him speci-
mens of his masterly produc-
tions. He is now on the
high-road to success, and it is
only right that attention should
be drawn to his curious and
restrained method of decorat-
ing morocco.
Mr. Paul Kersten is not only
a most skilful practitioner of
his art, but a subtle theorician
thereon — one might say an
apostle. I remember to have
read a few years ago in some German magazine a
certain “Causerie d’un specialiste,” by Mr. Kersten,
which showed that he possessed a very clear and
very acute sense of his subject. After having
plainly and concisely demonstrated the proper
method of making an artistic binding, which should
combine the double result of
technical beauty and aesthetic
harmony, Mr. Kersten endea-
voured to show that German
binding was in no way inferior,
either decoratively or as sheer
workmanship, to French bind-
BOOKBINDING
BOOKBINDING
ing. I cannot
go so far as to
say his demon-
stration was
conclusive; he
seemed to
ignore much
of the work
BY P. KERSTEN
already men-
tioned, treat-
ed of its his-
torical aspect
from the fif-
teenth cen-
BOOK BIN DING
BY P. KERSTEN
tury, revealing abundant
erudition and a remark-
able knowledge of all his
predecessors in all the
countries of Europe. He
traced back the intro-
duction of art binding
into Germany—that is
to say, bindings with
gilding on leather—to
the middle of the six-
teenth century only.
According to him, its
origin was Venetian and
the introducers were the
Frankfort libraires, who
at each annual fair sold
by p. kersten a great number of books
printed in Venice, partly
by learned German monks such as Mutianus
Rufus, of the monastery of Georgenthal, who sent
to their native country many admirable books
wholly bound. In any case, the cradle of German,
or, to be more exact, of Saxon binding, was the
University of Wittenberg, founded in 1502 by the
Elector Frederic the Good.
Having awarded full praise to the heavy leathern
”5
BY P. KERSTEN
BOOKBINDING