DOI issue:
No. 11 (February, 1894)
DOI article:Dobson, Austin: The two Paynes
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.17189#0169
The Two Paynes, by Austin Dobson
tained almost entirely by his good-natured book- the silk for sewing, the size for " sise-ing," &c, to-
seller namesake, at whose expense his portrait was gether with the precise'time occupied in washing,
etched and published by Harding, the Fall Mall repairing, restoring, and so forth. And often the
miniature painter. The plate shows Payne in total of a very long account is extremely moderate,
his Duke's Court " sky-parlour," much as he is The yEschylus above named, which is his master-
described in Arnett's Bibliopegia, surrounded only piece, cost but £16 js., and of this £5 155. was
by a few gallipots, and bending with long claw-like expended on inlaying and preparing the drawings
fingers upon his binder's press. He looks round for binding. This book was bound in rough-
stealthily at the spectator over a ■■■n—.„
a forest of unkempt, grizzled
hair. His shoulders are Bm\-XY)()- !' '■< ~f :'::-7'
shrouded by some temporal) . - 1
wrap: his feet are thrust into >\' y'V\ V' ' ■[ W >■ .....■ -]%
pitiful slippers; and one knee -j i'.v^\^\A^ - ''' "-''r '-~h"'-
the name " Rogeru^ Payne," ;r^c^^^^|^_- [ •^^^^^^^
the following ^ elegiac ^ couplet j^^^^ ^^^^^^^
Mv-n/jLotrwov meritis ' Bibliopola l ' -rtVtTi. ''' 1 7 ' ' •' '
markable is, that, apart from
the failing which kept him poor, ■■■^«^K«HMMmKtt^^^K^
Roger Payne, besides being an " roger payne." from the etching by s=. harding
excellent, and, for those days,
almost unique artificer, was also of a singu- grained morocco, lined with Russia leather,
larly independent and scrupulously honest char- Straight-grained red or olive morocco was his
acter. Otherwise, it would have been hazardous to favourite basis for tooling, but he frequently em-
entrust him with treasures as priceless as the ployed Russia. Occasionally, as in the case of
thirty-two original designs of Flaxman inserted an Aldine Virgil of 1505, copied in the Portfolio
in the Glasgow sEschylus (1795), which he bound for May 1893, he inserted a cameo in the centre
for Earl Spencer. His bills for his work are of the covers with excellent effect. In all the pro-
minute even to tedium in their laborious enumera- gressive stages of his art he was minutely careful;
tion of the amount of drawing paper used for but in the " forwarding," as the preparation cf the
inlaying, the "pick'd lawn" ditto for interleaves, book for its jacket is technically called, he ex-
tained almost entirely by his good-natured book- the silk for sewing, the size for " sise-ing," &c, to-
seller namesake, at whose expense his portrait was gether with the precise'time occupied in washing,
etched and published by Harding, the Fall Mall repairing, restoring, and so forth. And often the
miniature painter. The plate shows Payne in total of a very long account is extremely moderate,
his Duke's Court " sky-parlour," much as he is The yEschylus above named, which is his master-
described in Arnett's Bibliopegia, surrounded only piece, cost but £16 js., and of this £5 155. was
by a few gallipots, and bending with long claw-like expended on inlaying and preparing the drawings
fingers upon his binder's press. He looks round for binding. This book was bound in rough-
stealthily at the spectator over a ■■■n—.„
a forest of unkempt, grizzled
hair. His shoulders are Bm\-XY)()- !' '■< ~f :'::-7'
shrouded by some temporal) . - 1
wrap: his feet are thrust into >\' y'V\ V' ' ■[ W >■ .....■ -]%
pitiful slippers; and one knee -j i'.v^\^\A^ - ''' "-''r '-~h"'-
the name " Rogeru^ Payne," ;r^c^^^^|^_- [ •^^^^^^^
the following ^ elegiac ^ couplet j^^^^ ^^^^^^^
Mv-n/jLotrwov meritis ' Bibliopola l ' -rtVtTi. ''' 1 7 ' ' •' '
markable is, that, apart from
the failing which kept him poor, ■■■^«^K«HMMmKtt^^^K^
Roger Payne, besides being an " roger payne." from the etching by s=. harding
excellent, and, for those days,
almost unique artificer, was also of a singu- grained morocco, lined with Russia leather,
larly independent and scrupulously honest char- Straight-grained red or olive morocco was his
acter. Otherwise, it would have been hazardous to favourite basis for tooling, but he frequently em-
entrust him with treasures as priceless as the ployed Russia. Occasionally, as in the case of
thirty-two original designs of Flaxman inserted an Aldine Virgil of 1505, copied in the Portfolio
in the Glasgow sEschylus (1795), which he bound for May 1893, he inserted a cameo in the centre
for Earl Spencer. His bills for his work are of the covers with excellent effect. In all the pro-
minute even to tedium in their laborious enumera- gressive stages of his art he was minutely careful;
tion of the amount of drawing paper used for but in the " forwarding," as the preparation cf the
inlaying, the "pick'd lawn" ditto for interleaves, book for its jacket is technically called, he ex-