An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
VRINI ET AMICORVM; the whole being surrounded by a border-line of gold, between two lines in
blind was exhibited at the Burlington Fine Arts Club, and is figured in their catalogue [Case F, No.
15. b.]. On the upper lid of this book, which is bound in black morocco, the name of the author is
lettered on a simple floriated label; The bindings executed for Maiolus, considered as a whole,
are certainly inferior to those executed for Grolier, in regard to the fineness and beauty of their
design. They are, for the most part, more florid in character, than the bindings of Grolier: and
they generally want that scholarly simplicity, and scrupulous taste, which distinguish the books
of the Treasurer. M. Aime Vingtrinier, in his pamphlet, Maio/Z" et sa famille, is of the opinion, that
the bindings of this collector are of Lyonese workmanship: and there are several characteristics
of his books, which seem to bear out this opinion. One of these is the frequent use of azured
tools: indeed, on every example of a binding executed for Maiolus, which I have yet seen, the
flowered tools are invariably, either azured, or executed in outline, and filled in with colour.
Another common characteristic of the bindings of this collector is the absence of raised bands
upon the back. This treatment of the back, which afterwards was much affected by the later
French binders, particularly by those, who worked in the style associated with the names of
Nicholas and Clovis Eve, must always be considered as a French characteristic; in
contradistinction to the tendency of the Italian binders, to increase the size and projection of
their bands, for purposes of decoration, beyond what was actually necessary in the mere
forwarding of the book. Again, in these bindings of Maiolus, there is a florid vigour of design,
peculiarly Italian: and a certain heaviness in the gilding unlike that refinement, which
distinguishes the work of the Parisian binders. These mingled French and Italian characteristics,
coupled with the frequent use of azured tools, tend, I think, to support M. Vingtrinier's opinion
that these bindings are of Lyonese workmanship.
There is yet another collector, who enjoyed the acquaintance of Grolier, and whose books, if less
elaborately bound, are yet more rare, than those of Maiolus. This is Marc Lauwrin, or Laurin, as
his name is variously spelt in French, seigneur de Watervliet. Born at Bruges of an illustrious
family, a scholar and an accomplished antiquary, he is still remembered for the assistance, which
he rendered to Hubert Goltzius, in his famous work upon the illustrations of Greek and Roman
history, afforded by the medals of Antiquity; four volumes of which were published at Bruges, in
1563-76. I have not been able to discover any example of a book bound for Lauwrin, in the
British Museum: but the second volume of a Cicero, bearing his name and legend,