An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
by them, are exceedingly felicitous and distinguished. On the lower board was the leg:end:
VIRTVS IN ARDVO. Another example of a binding executed for Lauwrin of a similar character, and
bearing the same legend, is figured in the Nouvel Armorial du Bz'bliophile, by J oannes Guigard,
Paris, 1890. In the Libri sale, was a book in which Lauwri'n had written the sentence, 'Vita est
aqua fluens humana,' in allusion to his title of Watervliet: and on some of the books bound for
him, his name and legend are surrounded, also by way of allusion, with branches of laurel. A
binding in the Louvre bears the inscription, '10. Grolierus M. Laurino D.Do'; it is described in the
catalogue of Le Roux de L!ncy, No. 100; in whose work, other notices of the scholars and
collectors, who enjoyed the conversation of Grolier, may, also, be found.
Some of the finer bindings, executed in Italy about the middle of the sixteenth century, are
certainly equal, in point of design, to the most beautiful bindings of Grolier. A copy of the
Hypnerotomachia, Venice, 1545, figured in Burlington Fine Arts Catalogue [Case F, No. 24-], is
finished with a sense of largeness and virility, only possible to an Italian. But these instances
are rare; and the bindings, chiefly in vogue about this time, were the painted bindings, which
have more in common with the florid designs executed for Maiolus. These bindings include a
great number of examples, done for ecclesiastical and noble personages: and they differ from
one another exceedingly, in regard to the value of their design and work. For the most part,
they incline to a coarseness in the forms, and a crudeness in the colour: but bindings of great
beauty are found treated in this manner. What was merely an interlaced fillet, on the bindings of
Grolier and Maiolus, is here often elaborated into a kind of cartouche, which fills the whole field
of the boards; and is sometimes accompanied by arabesques, worked by a single line, with
flowered tools. A fine specimen of a painted binding covers a Book of Hours, Paris, 1549, in the
collection of the British Museum [CO 27. e. 14-]. The design and colour of this example are
admirable: and other instances may be seen on a copy of Antonio Zantani's Medals, Venice,
1548 [Co 20. b. 6.], and on a translation into Italian of the Potitz'cs of Aristotle, Venice, 1551
[CO 20. a. 20.] ; both of these bindings are tooled upon calf. But no example in the British
Museum is equal to the Missal, bearing the arms of Cardinal Gonzaga, which is figured in the
Catalogue of the Burlington Fine Arts Club [Case D, NO.5.] ; and which is an early specimen of
this kind of decoration.