For the Love of the Binding; Studies in Bookbinding History Presented to Mirjam Foot

Twenty-seven eminent scholars in manuscript and bookbinding studies, including colleagues and former students of Foote (Rare Book Collection, British Library), are the contributors to this impressive festschrift. Diverse aspects of the field are explored, although the place of origin of the majority of the bindings discussed is Britain. Among the topics included are: the incorporation of illuminated manuscripts in bindings, the use of medieval manuscript pages in publishers' wrappers in the 1920's, 16th-century incunabulae in a Brussels monastic library, tooling on bindings, Venetian bindings, and several essays on late 18th and 19th-century bindings and their makers. The quantity and quality of the figures and plates that accompany each essay help make this volume a valuable reference. It is co-published with the British Library. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)