There really was too much to cover at this year's 52nd new york antiquarian book fair at the park avenue armory, so that as i visited on 3 seperate occassions over the weekend, this post really has to be splitt in to parts also.
Among a truly embarrassment of riches of religous and secular literature, there were distinctive pocket of book arts, modern design bindings, modern art, and my favourite, the art deco bindings of F.L.Schmied, Pierre Legrain, Paul Bonet et al.
But for now we will just have to content ourselves with the opulent and ancient religious manuscripts and incunabular, rennaisance bindings, anatomical text books, a very fine copy of Erasmus, Slavic gospels in solid brass bindings, and a rather interesting laced and tacketed account book.
When i walked in, your bookbinding senses suffer a complete overload...best to just pick a side and travel. If you went left like i did the first booth you would come across was Dr.Joern Guenther's from Zurich Switzerland.
In the middle you can clearly see a classic example, among many, of a rennaisance binding covered in red velvet, and to the right a smaller illuminated gospel of st.paul, by simon Master c.1150-75, who according to the card,
"was known to have illuminated books for Abott of Simon of St.albans.....The manuscript is extremely close to the group of glossed manuscripts made for Thomas Becket...."
In almost every case there were examples of hand illuminated manuscripts from throughout the medieval and rennaisance periods, of all shapes, all sizes, each unique, in a variety of bindings...some with clasps, some in leather, some with brass boss's. The standouts for me were the few later secular texts mixed into the soup of handcoloured and illuminated gospels and multiple "book of hours".
One of which was a first edition german translation of versalius' "de humani de corporis fabrica libri septem." The card read
"...one of the most influencial works in western medicine. Versalius(1514-1564)was appointed physician to Charles V. He is regarded as the father of modern ideas on anatomy."
Quite!...and this was the first booth!
I complemented Dr. Joern Guenther on his showcased bindings, and professed a certain naive incredulity as to how you would come by such historical bindings as a private collector. I asked when he started collecting, and he answered that his interest in books began at 14 and he has continued to collect for 40 years. Of course it doesn't hurt to be in the continent such work was completed, but when further pressed on where he came by them, he was suitably vague "private collectors...."
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Ursus books was one of another booths that seemed to be overflowing with historically significant illuminated manuscripts and binding.
One standout was the slavic bible from the 17th century, with brass covers that were etched with illustrations.
Another notable addition at the Ursus was the use of I-pads to display different pages of the illuminated manuscripts ...pretty smart juxtaposition of technologies...
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Gregarious Bookseller Rudolphe Chamonal from Paris had a few historical gems too - an early edition of Champier, french Humanist published in lyons, 1508. What was notable about this binding was that the velvet used was pink, but it has faded to beige.
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A trip over to James Cummings of New York would bring you face to face with a copy of Erasmus' Aldine adagia c.1508, bound in pigskin on double-cords and wooden boards, a translation of latin proverbs.
"in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king"
etc.........
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Wrapping up the third day brought more discovery in historical binding, when touring with binder Christine Giard and my friend and book expert "a", we chanced upon an early contemporary binding of an account book for a jewish family of financeers. The binding is referred to as "laced and tacketed", and we were very lucky that both Chela Metzger and the bookseller at Musinsky Rare Books of New York, were fortunately on hand to help bring a greater understanding of the context, value, and construction of the book.
All together 3-4 days was nowhere near long enough to get a full experience from the show, and required quite a bit of photo editing aswell.
In the following posts, bindings from the 19th century aswell as modern design bindings, some book art, some modern art, and art deco celebrities like legrain, bonet and schmied will all require seperate posting..
next ...art deco bindings
more later
Modern design binding and book art, aswell as fine print were surprisingly well represented.
The two amazing bonets on display were immediately recognisable, and would jump out at any bookbinder. The size, the characteristic gold tooling, yes all that , and the fact that you’ve studied them in books for a long time...nothing beats seeing one in person. Some lucky person snapped up Bonet's binding of "FLORILEGE DES AMOURS" that night for 25,000...a bargain! I congratulated the Dr. and he was assured that it had found a good home.....nae bother! as they say up north because he still had at least 2 more fine Bonet's, yet another spectacular binding with onlays, a very precisely completed gold work naturally, and studded with mother of pearl- “Bubu de montpartnasse by Charles Louis Phillipe”. 
The pieces of shell I have used in the past were rather thin, these were a good thickness, so i can appreciate the difficulty of cutting such exacting shapes.
The affable Dr’s collection was just getting started ......there were more bonets that were on display - most of which was instantly recogniseable to anyone who has studied french bookbinding from that period.
I suppose that by now we have been spoiled so much that we barely even notice the rather modest bindings by Jean de Gonet on the shelf below...three diminuitive bindings all in a row showing the characteristic 3-phase binding, sectioned hollow, and exposed sewing. One stood out from the others in that it appeared the leather covering material at the spine seemed to be made up using strips of a skin weaved together??!!
The Brick Row Book Shop brought this very famous binding of “Le Grand Testament” by Francoys Villon bound by french binder Lucie Weill in 1948.
There really was too much to cover at this year's 52nd new york antiquarian book fair at the park avenue armory, so that as i visited on 3 seperate occassions over the weekend, this post really has to be splitt in to parts also.
When i walked in, your bookbinding senses suffer a complete overload...best to just pick a side and travel. If you went left like i did the first booth you would come across was Dr.Joern Guenther's from Zurich Switzerland.
In almost every case there were examples of hand illuminated manuscripts from throughout the medieval and rennaisance periods, of all shapes, all sizes, each unique, in a variety of bindings...some with clasps, some in leather, some with brass boss's. The standouts for me were the few later secular texts mixed into the soup of handcoloured and illuminated gospels and multiple "book of hours".
"...one of the most influencial works in western medicine. Versalius(1514-1564)was appointed physician to Charles V. He is regarded as the father of modern ideas on anatomy."
I complemented Dr. Joern Guenther on his showcased bindings, and professed a certain naive incredulity as to how you would come by such historical bindings as a private collector. I asked when he started collecting, and he answered that his interest in books began at 14 and he has continued to collect for 40 years. Of course it doesn't hurt to be in the continent such work was completed, but when further pressed on where he came by them, he was suitably vague "private collectors...."
Gregarious Bookseller Rudolphe Chamonal from Paris had a few historical gems too - an early edition of Champier, french Humanist published in lyons, 1508. What was notable about this binding was that the velvet used was pink, but it has faded to beige.
A trip over to James Cummings of New York would bring you face to face with a copy of Erasmus' Aldine adagia c.1508, bound in pigskin on double-cords and wooden boards, a translation of latin proverbs.
In the following posts, bindings from the 19th century aswell as modern design bindings, some book art, some modern art, and art deco celebrities like legrain, bonet and schmied will all require seperate posting..
Huey Long, began his career as a traveling sales man, selling amongst other remedys for varied ailments, a liquid evacuant called "black draught", still available today.
Its not often that you will get to see a Kelmscott edition, and when you come across one you are sure to remember, no doubt through a mystic haze. I'm sure every binder has a story or two detailing their discovery of a Kelmscott edition, me included. 
