File:Historic bindings in the Bodleian Library, Oxford - with reproductions of twenty-four of the finest bindings (1891) (14761103236).jpg

Identifier: historicbindings00bras (find matches)
Title: Historic bindings in the Bodleian Library, Oxford : with reproductions of twenty-four of the finest bindings
Year: 1891 (1890s)
Authors: Brassington, William Salt, 1859-1939 Bodleian Library
Subjects: Bookbinding
Publisher: London : Sampson Low, Marston and Co.
Contributing Library: Boston Public Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Public Library

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Text Appearing Before Image:
ce of work, this bindingis inferior in many respects to the beautifulFrench example, No. XII. Here we see acentre-ornament quartered in order to bepressed into the service as a corner-piece, and,obviously, out of harmony with the rest of thedesign. Then the delicate gold convolutionsforming the outer frame to the medallion areoverpowered by the heavy black lines of the inner border and themechanically produced corner-pieces. Notwithstanding the blemishes,the detail and general effect are good, and the work is conscientiouslyexecuted; indeed, this is one of the finest specimens of RobertDudleys bindings. In England during the reigns of Edward VI., Mary I., andElizabeth, several great nobles indulged their taste for splendour byfurnishing their libraries with books in elaborately ornamented bind-ings. Many specimens of great beauty, bearing the arms and badgesof the famous men to whom they belonged, have endured centuriesof hard usage, and may still be seen in almost pristine freshness.
Text Appearing After Image:
DIONIS NIO<EI RERUM ROMANORUM, ETC. In brown leather, with badge of the Earl of Leicester. Plate XIII. PLATE XIII. 27 William Cecil Lord Burleigh, Sir Thomas Wotton, Robert DudleyEarl of Leicester, and Henry FitzAlan Earl of Arundel, are amongthe best known patrons of art and of bookbinding; the two firstpreferred the so-called Italo-Grolieresque style, examples of whichhave been given in Plates Nos. X., XI. The Earls of Leicester andArundel, on the other hand, affected a style copied more directly fromthe French. It is possible that both earls employed French artistsliving on the continent, but it seems to me more probable that thebooks were bound in England by workmen following French traditions. A few words about the badge in the centre of the side maynot be out of place, since it is by means of the badge that thehistory of the binding is known. Upon a wreath a bear erect,argent, chained and muzzled, or, supporting a ragged staff; thisis the famous badgfe of the Earls of Warwick

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