About this Item
Among the most distinguished bibliographical publications of the late nineteenth century, Bookbindings, Old and New by Brander Matthews occupies a special position as both a scholarly study and a personal meditation on the art of the book. Issued in London by George Bell & Sons in 1896, the work reflects the height of the fin-de-siècle fascination with craftsmanship, historical continuity, and the book as a supreme cultural artefact. Richly informed and elegantly written, it stands as one of Matthews?s most accomplished contributions to Anglo-American bibliophilic literature.
At the heart of the volume lies one of its most historically significant features: an extended and early account of the Grolier Club of New York, presented at a moment when the institution was still in its formative decades and actively defining the modern standards of bibliophily. Founded in 1884 and named in honour of the great Renaissance collector Jean Grolier, the Club was conceived as a meeting ground for collectors, scholars, printers, binders, and artists devoted to the serious study of the book as a physical and intellectual creation. From its inception, the Grolier Club pursued ambitions unprecedented in American cultural life, modelling itself on the great European bibliophilic societies while forging a distinctively modern vision of the book arts.
Under the Club?s influence, American bibliophily was transformed. Its exhibitions ? among the earliest systematic displays of rare books and fine bindings in the United States ? were accompanied by meticulously produced catalogues that remain foundational references in the history of printing and binding. Through its private press publications and scholarly monographs, the Club established rigorous standards for descriptive bibliography, historical research, and typographic excellence. Matthews?s account captures the Grolier Club precisely at this pivotal moment of consolidation and growth, when it was emerging as an international centre of connoisseurship, scholarship, and artistic collaboration.
Beyond its institutional history, Bookbindings, Old and New offers a lucid and engaging survey of the development of European bookbinding, tracing the evolution of styles, materials, and decorative systems from the medieval period through the Renaissance and into the modern era. Matthews examines the binding not merely as a protective shell but as an independent artistic discipline, shaped by changing aesthetic ideals, technical innovations, and the tastes of collectors and patrons. His reflections move fluidly between historical analysis and personal observation, producing a work that remains both authoritative and deeply readable.
The present volume thus occupies a dual role: as a key document in the intellectual history of book collecting and as an enduring celebration of the art of binding itself. Combining Matthews?s cultivated prose with one of the earliest printed tributes to the mission of the Grolier Club, the book continues to serve as an indispensable reference for historians of the book arts, collectors, and bibliographers. It stands not only as a record of late-Victorian bibliographic taste but also as a testament to the institutions and individuals who shaped modern appreciation of fine bookbinding.
In a later handsome full dark green morocco binding, with hand-gold tooling, dark red leather onlays, leather doublures; top edge gilt. Unquestionably in fine condition.
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