BOOKBINDING.*
IN The Binding of Books, Mr. Horne has added one more to the series of "Books about Books," a form of literature which appeals chiefly to that somewhat limited circle of people who love books for their own sake—because they are books—and not for anything that is in them. It is curious to note how extensive and complicated this lore of the library may be. Even in the field of bookbinding Mr. Horne does not attempt a comprehensive inquiry, but contents himself with what he calls an "essay in the history of gold- tooled bindings," finding more than enough to say about that one branch of the craft, and making no mention of the book- coverings of velvet, silks, and different metals of which so many splendid specimens are preserved in our museums. Nor does he profess to give a very detailed account of the use of different leathers, beyond remarking that a considerable variety of skins have been employed. Before the introduction of morocco,--calf, vellum, sheep, doe, and pig-skin were all in use for binding English books. Icelandic books were covered in seal-skin. Kangaroo-skin has also been appropriately used for binding a copy of Governor Philip's Voyage to Botany Bay. Fox-skin covers a. copy of the "Historical Works" of Charles James Fox ; and it is said that the renowned Dr. Askew caused a book to be bound in human skin. The author him- self professes a preference for good morocco above all others. This work, however, is almost entirely devoted to a history of the ornamentation of this morocco by gilding as practised by the early bookbinders of Italy and France. To the un- initiated person who is generally unobservant of bindings and sees but little difference between the gilt-lettering and patterns that are worked upon one book and those that are worked upon another, this field of inquiry may seem rather a re- stricted one. That it is not so may be judged, not only from Mr. Home's own book, but also from the formidable list of authorities that he quotes. And, indeed, when he has read all that Mr. Horne has to say, even the most disdainful critic will begin to have his doubts and wonder whether, after all, what he considered to be a petty and insignificant handicraft, may not fairly take rank as one of the fine arts. The author himself has no doubt whatever. He has treated his subjects, he says, "not merely as an antiquary and a critic, but as an artist ; for the art of bookbinding is yet a living art, sensible to new emotions, and capable of new expressions." Whether or not his readers are likely to share in this conviction, it is one that has, at least, inspired the author to write a very read- able and interesting book.
Mr. Horne does his work thoroughly. Before passing to the consideration of the history of bookbinding, he gives a very clear, though necessarily somewhat technical account of the craft of binding with all its different processes of beating or pressing, marking-up and sewing, end-papers, backing, round- ing, lacing, head-banding, and covering. From this account one learns, among other interesting scraps of information, the origin of that hideous abomination, marbled paper. With regard to the history of bookbinding, the author finds that, like other decorative arts, it reached its culminating point in Italy at the beginning of the sixteenth century, and that from that time it has gradually declined. "And in the binder's art, as in the art of printing, this gradual decadence was accompanied by a gradual approach towards a greater perfection of workmanship, the one diminishing as the other increased; until a technical excellence has been reached by certain French binders during the present century, beyond which it would seem impossible to proceed." That is not an
• 171. Binding of Books, By Herbert P. 'Horne. London : Kegan Paul, Trench, and Co. uncommon complaint among writers upon art. But does it mean anything more than the general fact that the higher the average of technical skill which is reached by competition among artists, the more certain is the loss of the separate- artist's individuality ? The author is inclined to think that gold-tooling was first introduced into Italy in the time of Aldus Manutius ; and that, if not introduced by him, it first made its appearance upon the bindings of the famous. ARline Classics, from 1501 onwards. Judging from the eagerness with which Aldus's italic types were copied, it is probable that the gold ornamentation of the bindings found an equally universal favour. Of the relations of Aldus. Manntius with his patron, Jean Grolier, Mr. Horne gives a very full account, adding an interesting sketch of the history of the latter worthy. Grolier, one time ambassador from Francis I. to Pope Clement VII., and afterwards Treasurer- General of France, was a fair type of the magnificent patron of scholarship and art of those days. It is from his fine- collection of books that so many of the best specimens of the bookbinder's handiwork have been preserved. But the Grolier- bindings belong by right to the Italian style. For the generous support of early French binding we are indebted to the library of a collector whose patronage of printers and bookbinders took a more extensive range than even that of Grolier himself. Peiresc travelled all over Europe to collect books for his library. "Also new things are continually brought him, not only from all parts of Europe, but from Asia, Africa, India, and the New World And because these men, with all their Art and Industry, could not fully satisfle Peireskins, he oftentimes sent others. from his own House into all the islands of the Agean Sea, to the Mountain Atho, to Constantinople, Alexandria, and those miserable Reliques of Carthage and Memphis,' who should procure the " ancientest " books for their employer in Paris. But it was his honourable treatment. of the books then brought to him that made Peirese so. profitable a patron to bookbinders. He did not allow even the " ancientest" of his treasures to remain, like Carthage- and Memphis, "miserable reliques." In his Life, written by Gassendi, we learn that, "whether he gave them away or kept them, he would be sure to have them neatly bound and covered ; to which end he kept an industrious bookbinder in his house, who did exquisitely bind and adorn them. Yea, and sometimes he kept many bookbinders at once ; for one- man was hardly ever able to bind-up such store of books aa came trowling in from all parts. Also it happened frequently that such books as he borrowed, being neglected by their- owners and ill-bound, he delivered to his binder to be rectified, and beautified; so that, having received them ill-bound and ill-favoured, he returned them trim and handsome." Truly,. the love of books could not be shown in a more princely fashion. And it is noteworthy that these old book-col- lectors had none of that love of hoarding that marke their modern successors,—men who hate to entrust even the least of their treasures to other hands. Grolierii et Amieorum, was the generous legend that adorned the treasurer's bindings,. a legend which, with its teaching, was adopted by many a collector after him. As for Peiresc, his ambition seemed to. be to distribute his books through the hands of as many friends and scholars as he could find. Bibliophiles of this type. are not deserving of the reproach which Pope addressed to the Earl of Burlington :— "In books, not authors, curious is my Lord ;
To all their dated backs he turns you round; These Aldus printed, those du Sueil has boumL"
The curiosity of the modern book.collector is nearer akin to.
that of Lord Burlington than that of Peiresc.
Of English bookbinding our author has not much to say,. because there is not much that can be said. The pith of its history lies in the Act of Parliament, passed in the reign of Henry VIII., forbidding the import for sale of foreign-bound, books and protecting in other ways a very languishing industry. Touching the general art of bookbinding, the- author lays down one or two very sensible maxims, pleading, above all things, for simplicity of design. In the past, we gather that the binding of the book was meant to express the individuality of its owner. To-day it would seem that the binder is rather ambitious of making his ornament allusive to, the book's contents. Upon this idea and upon the danger of carrying it out too extravagantly, Mr. Horne quotes some very sensible remarks of Mr. Cobden Saunderson's, a skilful
bookbinder of to-day. Mr. Home's book is not only likely to prove of considerable value to the librarian and collector, but also it contains a good deal of matter which will interest the general reader. It is excellently illustrated by twelve coloured plates, and it is bound very indifferently. The author should forgive us for saying so, for we should never have discovered the shortcomings of its binding had it not been for the know- ledge which he supplies in his first chapter.
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