Although the chief place to study bookbinders and their craft is
naturally London, there are several provincial centres where it
flourishes, and where it has been touched by that movement for
developing the artistic as well as the business side which we noticed in
the previous chapter. In large country towns it is impossible for work
to be as much specialized as it is in London; consequently a large
bindery will do business of a most miscellaneous kind, embracing
everything from pamphlets to fine-tooled morocco bindings, and including
albums, ledgers, library and school books for prizes. Mr. Fazakerly in
Liverpool, Mr. Birdsall in Northampton, and Mr. Chivers in Bath, all
have establishments more or less of this kind.
[Illustration: 10. BOUND BY FAZAKERLY.]
[Illustration: 11. BOUND BY FAZAKERLY.]
Mr. Fazakerly was one of the first binders, certainly outside of London,
who refused to support the excessive competition in cheapness, and who
struck out a department in which fine work could be executed at prices
that were remunerative and not prohibitive. Happily the result of his
efforts shows the success of a refusal to pander to that desire for
cutting prices which has done so much to ruin the crafts on their
artistic side. For some time after he had educated his workmen to the
responsibility of his new venture, he found that the taste of his
customers lay towards a reproduction of old models, but he has of late
been quite successful in directing it on to new lines. One feature may
be noted in connexion with the morocco work of Mr. Fazakerly, namely,
that the under cover is rarely decorated with the same design as the
upper. If the lower cover is left quite plain, the effect is poor, and
suggests that trouble has been spared on the book as a whole; but there
is no reason for the convention, almost universally adopted, whereby the
two sides are entirely alike. The same tools and elements of design
should appear in each cover, only disposed in different schemes of
ornament, and such variation naturally implies more thought, the thought
that avoids repetition. One of Mr. Fazakerly’s innovations was the
employment of embossed leather, which has since spread to many other
houses; and another which he considers a specialty of his business is
the decoration of the edges of books, both by means of tooling on them
or gauffering, as it is more generally called, and also by painting
underneath the gold. We may recall that in the sixteenth century this
extension of ornament to the leaves of a book was very prevalent, and
was only one of many indications that the workman spent ungrudging time
and thought on the details of what was intended to be a work of art
throughout.[3] Some very fine specimens of gauffered edges may be seen
on the works of Luther in seven folio volumes, dated Jena 1572–1581, now
in South Kensington Museum. The volumes being very thick offer fine
scope for ornament, which consists of the shield of Saxony painted in
the centre of each foredge, the rest of the space being filled with
arabesques and Renaissance ornaments. And there is, we believe, still in
this country part of the library that once belonged to Odonico Pillone
of Belluno, comprising some hundred and forty folios with foredges
painted by the hand of Cesare Vecellio, a nephew of Titian.[4]
The painting of edges was revived in England, and reappears in
thoroughly native style on books of the latter half of the eighteenth
century. Charming little English landscapes are to be found on some of
them, which, as the painting is done when the leaves are fanned out and
held in that expanded position, are not in evidence when the book is
shut, but when open appear at once. The name of William Edwards of
Halifax and his son James is especially associated with this work, and
their books are not very rare. Mr. Fazakerly has done a great deal of
this decoration, which requires certain conditions to ensure success.
The painter must be an artist, and the paper on which he works should be
rather thin than thick; the modern fashion of printing on a sort of
cardboard handicaps the binder not only in this, but other and far more
important ways. Mr. Fazakerly has also made some innovations in
‘doublures,’ a term applied to the inside face of the boards when lined
with leather or decorative material. In the matter of doublures the last
word has not been said, and there is still room for experiment. The
French custom of violent-coloured watered silks or equally salient
inlays has never found much favour in this country; but there has been a
great dearth both of invention and taste in dealing with this feature of
a binding. Some of Zaehnsdorf’s doublures have silk either of the same
colour as the cover, or in harmony with it, and he has tried Russia
leather with considerable success. Unsuitable as it is for the outside
cover from its tendency to rapid deterioration, it makes a very good
board lining, and can be employed as well for the flyleaf opposite;
indeed, it is better where possible that doublure and flyleaf should be
the same. It is with calf that Mr. Fazakerly has made his innovation,
and when delicately tinted and incised, but not embossed, the results
seem pleasant and appropriate. On books relating to Japan, the number of
which is largely on the increase, some of the coloured Japanese embossed
papers make excellent doublures. Before dismissing this subject, we may
mention the attempt of Mr. Bagguley, a binder at Newcastle-under-Lyme,
to tool on vellum in colour. Some of this work, designed by Léon Solon
and Miss Talbot, is very delicate and attractive; so delicate, in fact,
that it is only suitable for the inside of a book. His patterns are
composed chiefly of gouge and line work, as no effect of solid mass can
be apparently got in the colour, and the effect is enhanced by dots and
other small tools worked in gold. The excessively detailed nature of
this work, which is made up of ‘tools’ small and light in character,
heavier dies not being suitable for the stamping of colour, render it
costly of execution, but there is no doubt that its occasional use
offers a desirable variation on the ordinary inside lining. It is
difficult to close this subject without a few words in condemnation of
the coloured papers used by most binders for ordinary work which does
not admit of anything more elaborate. It is time they gave up the German
marbled patterns, the French ‘combs,’ and even the spirit marbles which
produce the effect of violent colour thrown on wet blotting-paper and
appear to be the latest fashion of monstrosity in such things. Good
white handmade papers or vellum papers are the most suitable, while if
coloured ones are deemed essential, the French and Van Gelder crayon
papers toning harmoniously with the morocco are not likely to be an
offence.
[Illustration: 12. BOUND BY CHIVERS.]
[Illustration: 13. BOUND BY CHIVERS.]
The business of Messrs. Birdsall at Northampton takes us to another
centre of provincial activity in binding, and it has an especial
interest in being one of the oldest bookbinding businesses in the
country. It has been in the hands of the present proprietors’ family
well over a hundred years, and has a connected history since 1757, when
John Lacy, a banker of Northampton, acquired it and associated with it a
bookselling business which he had also in the town. On giving up work in
1792 he sold both to William Birdsall, a Yorkshireman by birth, who had
settled there, and in this family it has remained ever since. We spoke
before of the varied nature of the work carried out by country binders,
and on Messrs. Birdsall’s premises we find a department of manufacturing
stationery, another for the wholesale paper trade, a third for
commercial bindings in which are included certain special registered
bindings patented for serial work, such as the ‘Stronghold’ and ‘Biblia
fortis,’ suitable for free libraries where the usage is rough and
constant, and lastly, one set apart for highly finished leather and
vellum books. The works are always kept in the highest state of
efficiency, and the workmen are encouraged to excel in skilled and
conscientious work. Many of these have passed a lifetime there, and
though the business is not of a co-operative character, a bonus is
distributed to the older and more efficient workers at the end of the
year.
[Illustration: 14. BOUND BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.]
Mr. Chivers, of Bath, has brought an unusual amount of originality and
enthusiasm into the service of his craft. His father was a binder there
before him, and the son, after working with Chatelain in London, decided
to settle in his native town. For some time his specialty was a binding
for public libraries patented under the name of ‘Duro-flexile,’ and
this, together with other library appliances, brought him a connexion
with librarians all over the country who were occupied with the problems
presented by the particular nature of their work. He has brought
considerable invention to bear upon these problems, and in certain cases
it is not likely that a more satisfactory solution will be found than
that which he has introduced. Besides these practical matters he has
made certain styles of decorating book covers especially his own, and
one of these he has developed with considerable success. This consists
in a scheme whereby designs are painted on paper and then covered with
transparent vellum, so that there is no limit to the colour effect that
may be produced. We have already mentioned James Edwards, of Halifax,
who settled in 1784 as a bookseller in Pall Mall, and whose love of
books caused him to direct his coffin to be made from the shelves of his
libraries. In 1785 he took out a patent ‘for embellishing books bound in
vellum and making drawings on the vellum which are not liable to be
defaced by destroying the vellum itself.’ The description further
contained in the patent has never been found possible of imitation,
which may or may not have been intentional on his part. The British
Museum shows a Prayer-Book bound by him in this style for Queen
Charlotte, wife of George III., which has likewise a foredge painting
beneath the gold. His patterns were frequently Etruscan in character;
but as his range of decoration was limited and the vellum he used
insufficiently transparent, his books are only of moderate interest. Mr.
Chivers’ plan is a much simpler one, and if the designs are given into
the hands of artists, very original results can be obtained. The French
have one binder—M. Carayon—who is famed for a class of book cover that
gives something of the same effect. The best-known painters both in
water colours and black and white are employed to decorate the white
vellum that clothes so sumptuously the finely illustrated books that his
countrymen admire so much. These will, however, stand no usage of any
kind, and can only be kept in cases carefully made for their protection.
The vellucent work of Mr. Chivers being beneath the vellum runs no risk
of deterioration and can stand even more than the usual wear and tear.
Sometimes it appears as if the colours chosen were too strong, producing
in some cases rather the effect of the highly coloured supplements that
appear at Christmas in our illustrated papers; but that, of course, is
not a criticism that belongs to the method, but is rather a counsel of
perfection for a more delicate application of that method. The desire
for colour has appeared constantly in the history of bookbinding. We see
it first in the Venetian books brilliantly painted in lacquer in the
Persian and Saracenic style taken from Arabian manuscripts, then in the
strapwork coloured with a varnished incrustation like enamel, the best
of which, French and Italian, is found about the middle of the sixteenth
century. This method has proved very perishable, and has never been
revived. Later on we get the inlaying of coloured leathers, which
reached its most interesting development in the eighteenth century, and
has retained its hold on public taste ever since. The earlier painted
strapwork was freely copied in mosaics of leather; and when we come to
deal with present-day French bindings, we shall see the new style of
inlaid decoration to which these have given place. The vellucent method
of Mr. Chivers is full of delightful possibilities if confined to books
to which it is suited, and when employed in a rather lower colour scheme
as suggested. Nor is it necessary for the whole cover to be of vellum,
for it is possible to introduce a panel only of the transparent material
over a picture, and to incorporate this in the morocco, giving the
effect of an enrichment of enamel.
Another style which Mr. Chivers has done much to popularise is calf,
embossed and incised and sometimes coloured by hand. In this, as for the
vellucent bindings, he draws freely upon outside talent. Mr. H.
Granville-Fenn is general artistic adviser, and Miss Alice Shepherd and
Mr. S. Poole have long been associated with him in the execution of this
work.[5] Some of the ‘cuir ciselé’ that has come down to us from the
past, and which originated in Germany, is very fine in character, as any
one can see who studies some excellent examples exposed in the British
Museum. There seems no reason why it should not have a satisfactory
revival; in France, indeed, this has already taken place, as we shall
see later on, but in England there is still too much ‘prettiness’
associated with it, and one is apt to think it more suitable for
card-cases and blotting-cases than for bindings. What results it can
yield when the design is severe and dignified and the treatment finely
chiselled may be observed on the _Pantheologia_ by Rainesius de Pisa, a
folio dated about 1475, one of the Museum books just mentioned.
[Illustration: 15. BOUND BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.]
[Illustration: 16. BOUND BY THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS.]
The last illustrations in this chapter show work from the binding
department of the Oxford University Press. The Press itself, located in
special buildings in Oxford built in 1830, is divided into two parts,
one devoted chiefly to the printing of Bibles and Prayer-Books, the
other to classical, scientific and general printing. It is entirely
self-contained, making its own paper, ink, type, stereo- and
electro-plates. The University type foundry is the oldest in England,
and at the paper mills at Wolvercote, near Oxford, the famous India
paper is made which has brought very great changes into the book trade.
The publishing and binding house, lately at Amen Corner in the City, is
now at St. Dunstan’s House, Fetter Lane, and thither are sent all the
books from the Press as soon as printed. In the Paris Exhibition of 1900
the Press showed a considerable number of decorated bindings in addition
to the exhibits from the other departments. The Oxford Press designs are
very varied in character and include some excellent inlays; they are
made by the more artistic among the workmen, and speak highly for the
level of taste attained in the bindery.
[Illustration: 17. BOUND BY THE GUILD OF HANDICRAFT.]