New-York tribune., 1902-11-15
ARTISTIC BINDINGS.
AN EXHIBITION OF SOME VALUABLE
EXAMPLES

EXAMPLES
Charles Scribner's Sons are holding their usual
annual exhibition of choice bindings and old
books. The specimens of binding arranged
according to the nationality of the binders. it
being intended to set forth nearly complete
a survey as possible of work of the present day.
There are covers by binders of this country and
most of the countries of Europe. including Eng
land, France and Belgium, Denmark, Germany,
Finland, Italy. Norway, Sweden and SwitZer-
land. One of the most curious of the bindings
was received from Edinburgh. 1t is a good sized
quarto edition of "Aucassin and NicOlette
with the entire expanse of the sides covered by
a radial design of closely placed leaves in con-
centric circles of varying color. 1t gives almost
a bizarre impression. The toong is done with
one tool only, the leaf. and this has been used
$500 times. There are something like 800 in
lays of cOlored leather in this example, all of
which gives the volume rather the nature of
curiosity.
One of the rarest of the books exhibited is
copy of the first edition of Millions Paradise
Lost" The book is we'll preserved, and has the
title in the rarest form. The cover is the work
of an English workman Riviere, ana is mar
vel of patient tooling. On full brown crushed
levant cover is a central panel containing the
lettering on a dotted ground. In the wide bor-
der the small trees, one over the other from top
to bottom have leaves inlaid in brown and
green mOroccos. The background is of minute
pointille. in which the single point tool has been
used in going over with gold several times.
Both covers and the back similarly treated
The book has rich appearance, and is in fact
a small monument of labor. Another interesting
binding, of more conventional design, by
Riviere, covers copy of Tennyson's I'm Memo
ram." 1900. where elaboratey gold fooled
nd in conventional DattPFn
displayed on brown crushed levant An early
specimen of Cobden-SandersOn's work, signed
''1S C-S ST." is shown on an 1918 copy of Keats's
''Endymion," the first edition The full blue
crushed levant sides are covered with sprays of
conventional laurel. arranged with a back
ground of stars, four hearts and crescent, in
formal composition. The toOling is rich with
overlaid gold, feature which is seen to better
advantage in French and English designs than
in American. specimen of the same binders
work. bearing signature of two years later.
appears in William MOrris's STORY of Sigurd
the Volsung and the Fall Of the Niblungs." Lon
don 1887. This shows design of tulips and
hearts. full dark red levant The book Is a
presentation copy to IF. S. Ellis from William
Morris June 90, 1887" There are several
amples OF Zaehnsdorfs work. notably the covers
to "Atalanta in Calydon.' London. 1865. first
edition, in which a design Of flowers on dark
green IeVant is supplemented Dy OOODluTeS OF
green levant. Inlaid mother-of-pearl is used in
a specimen Of work by Cedric Chivers. in which
an orb behind the head of girl is so treated.
This book, Some Fruits of Solitude Is bound
in German calf Mrs. Oliphant's THE Makers of
Florence" has a curious feature in the binding
by Fazakerley. of Liverpool. A water color
picture OF Florence is painted on the edges. ap
parently held at angle in a wise. before gild-
ing, The water color drawing becomes visible
through the gold when the hand curves the
leaves in mass at the edge.
The Kelmscott Press edition of Sponsors
shepherds Calendar is bound by Miss Pri-
deaux. with conventionalized flowers fooled in
gold on brown levant. In diamond shaped panels.
One or two examples by De Sauty show elab-
crate inlays of levant and heavy tooling. The
work of the Doves Bindery is represented by
volume OF selected poems OF Colertdge. bound in
bleached pigskin the Kelmscott edition OF Her
rick and other books. Among the more severe
and conventional work OF the Frenchmen are
examples by Ruban. Kieffer. Cruel. Mercier and
others Merciers excellent heavily fooled gold
straight lines are shown on his cover Of William
Morris's Tale of the Emperor Constants" in
blue crushed levant An example OF chiseled
leather is here in Gruers treatment Of a morn
ing glory spray for copy Of the fourth edition
OF Fftzgerads "Rubaiyat' and the "Salaman
and Absal." OF Jami Among the American
bindings, curious cover by Zahn should be
noted. A late edition of Marcus Aurelius is
bound in yellow crushed levant. with winding
ribbon Of black morocco inlaid near the edges of
the covers and inside borders with similar in
lays of a ribbon of black Bradstreets' is rep
resented by a copy of late edition of the poems
OF Elizabeth Barrett Browning. bound In light
crushed levant Janseniste with doublure Of
blue crushed levant richly decorated with gold
tooling An unconventional design is executed
by Stikeman for Onoto Watana's japanese
Nightingale" in which the figure of a Japanese
is made with inays of different colOred leather
on a dark green cover. Fans are drawn in in
lays on the doublures. Among other American
binders whose work is represented Miss
BulEley. Dudley and Hodge. Macdonald. Yer
berg Miss Starr, Miss Preston. Miss Sears and
the Club Bindery.