DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1397#0095
PLATE 24.
A BOOK-COVER,
BY F. BEDFOEI).
npHIS very beautiful example of ornamental leather-work was produced by Mr. Francis Bedford, the
eminent bookbinder, from the designs, and under the superintendence, of Mr. Henry Shaw, F.S.A.,
whose valuable works on the Middle Ages are known and appreciated by all true lovers of artistic
antiquities. The style of decoration employed is that which prevailed during the 12th and 13th
centuries; the metal bosses and jewels are furnished by Messrs. Hardman, of Birmingham; the
enamelled hinges, with the initials H. S., are by Mr. H. de Koningh, of Dean Street, Soho, whose
enamelled clock, &c, in Class 33, were excellent specimens of the enameller's art, and more than
deserved the official Honourable Mention he obtained for them ; the coloured gauffrmg of the edges
was copied from drawings made by Mr. Shaw by one of his assistants. The contents of the book
consist of a very carefully selected copy of the " Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages," one
of the numerous publications by which Mr. Shaw has distinguished himself; the two volumes as
published being bound in one ; every plate and every coloured illustration incorporated in the text,
having been as carefully finished as the original illuminations, or other authorities from which they
were taken. It is the property of the author, and forms a volume of rare merit, which, as a specimen
of the bookbinding art, we think, both in design and execution, took the first place in the inter-
national collection, and fully justified the medal obtained by Mr. Bedford for this and a numerous
assortment of first-rate book-covers, "for ornamented binding of the highest class in point of work-
manship and finish."
The ornamental binding of books has been ever a favourite custom with the wealthy and
noble; indeed, the more ancient the work, the more massive is the binding. Some of the finest
existing examples are to be seen in the great libraries and treasuries of Europe ;—e. g., the
magnificent cloisonnee enamel cover of the Greek Gospels, in the Library of Siena, an ivory cover
of the Byzantine school, at Wiirzburg in Bavaria; the remarkable early pieces in carved ivory at
Berlin, the Codex Wittikindi, and numerous others from the 11th to the 13th century; the very
early and interesting cover in the Hildesheim Treasury, open-cut, studded with crystals, gems, and
cameos; the ivory carved covers preserved at the Munich Library, formerly belonging to Bamberg
Cathedral; the most interesting ivory carved cover of the Psalter of Charles the Bald, preserved
in the Imperial Library at Paris; the beautiful cover in copper-gilt, and niello of the Sainte
Chapelle New Testament (Paris); the open-worked silver cover of the New Testament, preserved
in the library of Wiirzburg; and the fine early covers in the Louvre collection; besides several
remarkable examples in our own National Museum. But the greatest variety and number,
perhaps, of book-covers to be seen in any single spot is in the library at Wolfenbiittel. From the
magnificent Florentine Missal which belonged to Matthias Corvinus, down to the little Bible with its
fine niello medallions and clasps, there will be found enough of all kinds and ages to compensate
the amateur who should take the trouble to visit that somewhat stagnant town.
There is no art which appears to have suffered less by the decadence of the Medigeval style than
the bookbinder's; indeed, it was in many ways a gainer by the Renaissance ; for books were
multiplied, and artists were employed in the ornamentation of their covers. Numerous examples of
very good designs, principally German and French, remain from the 15th century; but at the close
of that century the great Italian families introduced gilding; and before the middle of the 16th
century, gilt ornamental binding, which had attained in Italy the highest point, spread with other
fine arts, to all parts of Europe.
A BOOK-COVER,
BY F. BEDFOEI).
npHIS very beautiful example of ornamental leather-work was produced by Mr. Francis Bedford, the
eminent bookbinder, from the designs, and under the superintendence, of Mr. Henry Shaw, F.S.A.,
whose valuable works on the Middle Ages are known and appreciated by all true lovers of artistic
antiquities. The style of decoration employed is that which prevailed during the 12th and 13th
centuries; the metal bosses and jewels are furnished by Messrs. Hardman, of Birmingham; the
enamelled hinges, with the initials H. S., are by Mr. H. de Koningh, of Dean Street, Soho, whose
enamelled clock, &c, in Class 33, were excellent specimens of the enameller's art, and more than
deserved the official Honourable Mention he obtained for them ; the coloured gauffrmg of the edges
was copied from drawings made by Mr. Shaw by one of his assistants. The contents of the book
consist of a very carefully selected copy of the " Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages," one
of the numerous publications by which Mr. Shaw has distinguished himself; the two volumes as
published being bound in one ; every plate and every coloured illustration incorporated in the text,
having been as carefully finished as the original illuminations, or other authorities from which they
were taken. It is the property of the author, and forms a volume of rare merit, which, as a specimen
of the bookbinding art, we think, both in design and execution, took the first place in the inter-
national collection, and fully justified the medal obtained by Mr. Bedford for this and a numerous
assortment of first-rate book-covers, "for ornamented binding of the highest class in point of work-
manship and finish."
The ornamental binding of books has been ever a favourite custom with the wealthy and
noble; indeed, the more ancient the work, the more massive is the binding. Some of the finest
existing examples are to be seen in the great libraries and treasuries of Europe ;—e. g., the
magnificent cloisonnee enamel cover of the Greek Gospels, in the Library of Siena, an ivory cover
of the Byzantine school, at Wiirzburg in Bavaria; the remarkable early pieces in carved ivory at
Berlin, the Codex Wittikindi, and numerous others from the 11th to the 13th century; the very
early and interesting cover in the Hildesheim Treasury, open-cut, studded with crystals, gems, and
cameos; the ivory carved covers preserved at the Munich Library, formerly belonging to Bamberg
Cathedral; the most interesting ivory carved cover of the Psalter of Charles the Bald, preserved
in the Imperial Library at Paris; the beautiful cover in copper-gilt, and niello of the Sainte
Chapelle New Testament (Paris); the open-worked silver cover of the New Testament, preserved
in the library of Wiirzburg; and the fine early covers in the Louvre collection; besides several
remarkable examples in our own National Museum. But the greatest variety and number,
perhaps, of book-covers to be seen in any single spot is in the library at Wolfenbiittel. From the
magnificent Florentine Missal which belonged to Matthias Corvinus, down to the little Bible with its
fine niello medallions and clasps, there will be found enough of all kinds and ages to compensate
the amateur who should take the trouble to visit that somewhat stagnant town.
There is no art which appears to have suffered less by the decadence of the Medigeval style than
the bookbinder's; indeed, it was in many ways a gainer by the Renaissance ; for books were
multiplied, and artists were employed in the ornamentation of their covers. Numerous examples of
very good designs, principally German and French, remain from the 15th century; but at the close
of that century the great Italian families introduced gilding; and before the middle of the 16th
century, gilt ornamental binding, which had attained in Italy the highest point, spread with other
fine arts, to all parts of Europe.