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MARGARITA PHILOSOPHICA NOVA (Strasbourg: Gruninger, 1508)

An enlarged edition of Reisch’s work that also includes Petrus Ravennas’ Phoenix sive artificiosa memoria, Filliippo Beroaldo’s Epistolandi modus, Martin Waldseemuller’s Architecturae et perspectivae rudimenta, and Angelo Poliziano’s Panepistemon. This edition is sometimes considered a piracy of Margarita Philosophica.

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DEMOSTHENES: ORATIONS (Florence, 1465)

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Book Cover (Persian)

KORAN (17th Century ) Persian translated, illuminated manuscript written in Naskhi script

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THE GIFT: A Christmas and New Year’s present for 1842 (Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1842). Contains “Eleonora” by Edgar Allan Poe.

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Shiba inu (Japanese dog) as depicted on various book copies of the famous 106-volume epic ‘Nansō Satomi Hakkenden’ by Kyokutei Bakin (1814).

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GEESE BOOK . (Nurenberg. c. 1507-10) Two volumes. Pigskin binding with decorations by Jakob Elsner.

Held by The Morgan Library & Museum.

‘Called the “Geese Book” after a humorous, self-referential scene of a wolf teaching a gaggle of geese to sing from a choir book on a podium, as a wily fox attacks them rom behind. Anton Kress (1478–1513), a member of the city council and relative of Willibald Pirckheimer, a humanist in Dürer’s circle, oversaw the manuscript’s production. Although working at a time when Dürer was the dominant artistic personality in Nuremberg, Jakob Elsner produced work that shows little debt to Dürer’s style. In the lower margin of the Feast of St. Lawrence, on view here, the shawm (woodwind instrument) lying on the ground may refer to the former braying of the swine who now sings the “new song” (canticum novum, mentioned in the opening words of the feast) while a bear plays a viol. The original pigskin binding, with metalwork from Nuremberg’s leading metalworker, is typical of German books of this period.’

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LAYLA AND MAJNUN (Persia, c. 1550-60)

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BIBLE (Paris: J. Carss & Co., 1504) in Latin.

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Elizabethan book cover worked in gold, silk and pearls on red velvet.

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MARIE ANTOINETTE by Pierre de Nolhac. (London: Humphreys, 1905). Cosway-style binding by Cedric Chivers.

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LIVES OF THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND by Agnes Strickland (1796-1874). Cosway-style binding.

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THOMAS GAINSBOROUGH by Alfred Ewen Fletcher (London: Walter Scott Pub., 1904)

This copy in gilt black morocco #Cosway style art binding by Riviere, gilt double-fillet border, gilt design of branches, oak leaves and acorns, with a gilt pointillé background, twelve inset miniatures under glass each based on a portrait by Gainsborough.

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Illustration from Thomas Malory's Le Morte D'Arthur by W. Russell Flint (1910)

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LA SAINT BIBLE (Tours: Alfred Mame, 1866) Binding by Chambolie-Duru, finished by Marius Michel.

Held by Princeton University.

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LIVRE DE PRIÈRES [aka THE BOOK OF COMON PRAYER (1680-1682) Illustrated by Frederick-Hendrix Van Hove

Held by the Victoria and Albert Museum.

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THE HOLY BIBLE (London: Robert Barker, 1614)

There were comparatively few books in the early 17th century so they were highly prized by their owners. Bibles, though more common than other types of books, were treated with particular reverence. This made their bindings especially important. Embroidered bookbindings were more common than those made of tapestry, but rarely survive. Tapestry was more hardwearing. Here, expensive materials have been used - silk and metal thread. Tapestry cushion covers and large wallhangings were made largely of wool.

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CAUSERIE SUR L’ART DRAMATIQUE [aka CHAT ON DRAMATIC ARTS] by Fichier. (Paris, 1903) Cover designed by Marius Michel.