Queen's Binder A

This copy of Patrick's Christian sacrifice ... was bound for Queen Catherine, wife of Charles II by one of her binders, William Nott. It is in contemporary black morocco, with characteristic gilt design of thick gouges, volutes and flowers, some picked out with silver paint. It has a gilt panel spine and gilt edges.

Bindings can be in a variety of coloured leathers and may be decorated with gold or coloured tooling or blind stamped; bindings may also be of cloth and during the later 19^th century the coloured designs on these were often very decorative and pictorial.

Embroidered bindings were used during the 16^th and 17^th centuries and the designs made in coloured silks and/or fine metal wire. During the Middle Ages many beautiful jeweled bindings were made for church service books: combining the art of the binder, jeweler and the gold and silver smiths, few of these bindings survived the attacks of Viking and other raiders.

During the early years of the 20^th century this style of binding was revived by Sangorski and Sutcliffe in London. This firm created highly elaborate designs with multiple inlays of many coloured leathers, much gold tooling and jewels. These works were extremely expensive and ambitious, unique to the purchaser.

Types of decoration include:

• Blind tooling where an impression is made on the leather without the use of gold or other colour to highlight it. This style can be dated back to the 8^th century and has been used continuously since. Sometimes it is used in conjunction with gold tooling as a contrast.
• Panel-stamps where the sides are impressed with a large plate or block, or by several large ones to create a design. This is less labor intensive than a design created by the small tool technique, and can produce good pictorial effects. They were largely used during the 15^th and 16^th centuries.
• Gold blocking and gold tooling are two different methods which achieve a similar result. Gold blocking was a development of blind-blocking. It became popular during the reign of Elizabeth I and was usually carried out on religious works, and endeavoured to make cheaply produced books look more valuable. Blocks bearing the design were pressed into the moistened leather. Gold leaf was then laid on. Refinements of this basic method continue to be used.
• Gold tooling is considered to have been introduced to Europe in the mid-1400s and spread to England by the end of the century. It was another century before it was widely adopted. In this method small tools are used to apply a variety of small designs, which together combine to create a larger pattern. The combination of different tools varied the pattern that could be applied. Paper patterns were used from about 1830 to produce blind impressions, which could then be tooled in gold without the risk of errors showing on the leather.

Permission to use this item for any purpose, including publishing, is not required from the State Library under these conditions of use.

Buy a high resolution copy.