lived entirely by their profession; working at _tableaux benoîts_
(blessed pictures), or popular paintings, which were sold at the
church-doors. Others, again, were paid assistants of the recognised
painters to princes or nobles; and the anonymous was quite naturally
imposed upon them by their subordinate position, if not by the simple
modesty which was for a long time the accompaniment of talent. In the
fourteenth century the study of miniatures is peculiarly interesting, on
account of the scenes of public and private life, of manners and
customs, we find reproduced in them. Portraits after life, _d’après le
vif_, as they were called in those days, made their appearance; and
caricature, at all times so powerful in France, already began to show
itself with a daring which, occupying itself with the clergy, women, and
chivalry, stopped only before the prestige of royalty.
The miniatures of a French manuscript, dated 1313 (Imperial Library,
Paris, No. 8,504, F. L.), deserve to be mentioned, especially on account
of the various subjects they represent; for, besides the ceremony of the
reception of the King of Navarre into the order of chivalry, we see in
it philosophers discussing, judges administering the law, various scenes
of conjugal life, singers accompanying themselves on divers instruments
of music, villagers engaged in the labours of country life, &c. We must
mention also a manuscript of the “Roman de Fauvel,” in which is
especially prominent the very original scene of a popular concert of
rough music, by masked performers, given, according to an old custom, to
a widow who had married a second time (Fig. 365).
The period during which Charles V. occupied the throne of France is one
of those that produced the finest specimens of manuscript-painting. This
monarch, the founder of the Royal Library, was an admirer of illustrated
books, and had accumulated, at great cost, a large collection in the
great tower of the Louvre. A royal prince, whom we have already
mentioned as being excessively devoted to artistic luxuries, was the
rival of Charles V. in this respect: this was his brother, the Duke Jean
de Berry, who devoted enormous sums to the purchase and production of
manuscripts.
[Illustration: Fig. 366.--Border taken from a Prayer-book belonging to
Louis of France, Duke of Anjou, King of Naples, of Sicily, and of
Jerusalem. (Fourteenth Century.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 367.--Miniature taken from “Les Femmes Illustres,”
translated from Boccacio. (Imperial Library, Paris.)]
Even under Charles VI. this impulse did not abate, and the art of
painting manuscripts was never in a more flourishing condition. The
border taken from the “Livre d’Heures,” or prayer-book, of the Duke
d’Anjou, uncle of the king (Fig. 366), is an example of this. We might
mention, as specimens of illustrated works of this period, the book of
the “Demandes et Réponses,” by Peter Salmon, a manuscript executed for
the king, and ornamented with exquisite miniatures, in which all the
characters are true historical portraits, beautifully finished.
Nevertheless, the masterpieces of the French school at this period show
themselves in the miniatures of two translations of Boccacio’s “De
Claris Mulieribus” (“Beautiful Women”) (Fig. 367).
[Illustration: Fig. 368.--Miniature of the Psalter of John, Duke of
Berry, representing the Man of Sorrow, or Christ, showing the Sign of
the Cross. (Imperial Library, Paris.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 369.--Border taken from the Bible called Clement
VII.’s. (Fourteenth Century.)]
At that time two new styles appeared in the painting of manuscripts:
miniatures _en camaïeu_ (in one colour only), and miniatures _en
grisaille_ (in two colours, viz., a light colour shaded, generally with
brown). Of the first kind, we may instance “Les Petites Heures” of John,
Duke de Berry (Fig. 368), and “Les Miracles de Notre-Dame.”
Germany did not in this respect rise to the height of France; but
miniature-painting in Italy progressed more and more towards perfection.
A remarkable specimen of Italian art of this period is the Bible called
Clement VII.’s (Fig. 369), which is preserved in the Imperial Library,
Paris. But there exists one more admirable still in the same
establishment, so rich in curiosities, of the manuscript of “The
Institution of the Order of the Holy Ghost,” an order of chivalry
founded at Naples in 1352, by Louis de Tarento, King of Naples, during a
feast on the day of Pentecost; it is in this superb manuscript, executed
by Italian or French artists, may, perhaps, be found the most exquisite
miniatures of that day (Fig. 370); especially remarkable are the
beautiful portraits in _camaïeu_ of King Louis and his wife, Jane I.,
Queen of Naples. A valuable copy of the romance of “Lancelot du Lac,” of
the same date, recommends itself to the attention of connoisseurs by a
rare peculiarity: one can follow in it the successive operations of the
painter in miniature; thus are presented to us consecutively the
outline-drawing, then the first tints, generally uniform, executed by
the illuminator; next the surface on which the gold is to be applied;
then the real work of the miniature-painter in the heads, costumes, &c.
[Illustration: Fig. 370.--Miniature from a Manuscript of the Fourteenth
Century, representing Louis de Tarento, second Husband of Queen Jane of
Naples, instituting the Order of the Holy Ghost.
(Imperial Library, Paris.)]
France, in spite of the great troubles which agitated her, and the wars
she had to maintain with foreign powers during the fifteenth century,
saw, nevertheless, the art of the painter improve very considerably. The
fine copy of Froissart in the Imperial Library, Paris (Fig. 371), might
alone suffice to prove the truth of this assertion. The name of John
Foucquet, painter to King Louis XI., deserves to be mentioned with
eulogy, as that of one of the artists who contributed most to the
progress of painting on manuscripts. Everything thenceforward announced
the Renaissance which was to take place in the sixteenth century; and if
we wish to follow the onward progress of art from the beginning of the
fifteenth century till the time
[Illustration: CORONATION OF CHARLES V., KING OF FRANCE.
Miniature from Froissart’s Chronicles in the National Library, Paris.]
[Illustration: Fig. 371.--Border taken from “Froissart’s Chronicles,” a
French Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. (Imperial Library, Paris.)]
[Illustration: Fig. 372.--Border taken from an “Ovid.” An Italian
Manuscript of the Fifteenth Century. (Imperial Library, Paris.)]
of Raphael, it is in the miniatures of manuscripts we shall find the
best evidences of it. Let us observe, by the way, that the Flemish
school of the Dukes of Burgundy exercised great influence over this
marvellous art for a period of more than a century. Spain was also
progressing; but it is to the Italian artists we must, from that time
forward, look for the most remarkable works. The Imperial Library of
Paris possesses many manuscripts which bear witness to the marked
improvement in miniature-painting at this period; among others an “Ovid”
of the fifteenth century (Fig. 372); but in order to see the highest
expression of the art, we must examine an incomparable copy of Dante’s
works, preserved in the Vatican, a manuscript proceeding from the hands
of Giulio Clovio (Fig. 373), an illustrious painter, pupil and imitator
of Raphael: his miniatures are remarkable for beauty.
[Illustration: Fig. 373.--Miniature, painted by Giulio Clovio, of the
Sixteenth Century, taken from Dante’s “Paradise,” representing the Poet
and Beatrice transported to the Moon, the abode of Women devoted to
Chastity. (Manuscript in the Vatican Library, Rome.)]
Lastly, in the reign of Louis XII., the complete regeneration of the
Arts was effected. We should, however, mention that at this period
there were two very distinct schools: one whose style still showed the
influence of ancient Gothic traditions, the other entirely dependent on
Italian taste. The Missal of Pope Paul V. emanated from this last school
(Fig. 374).
[Illustration: Fig. 374.--Border taken from the Missal of Pope Paul V.
(An Italian Manuscript of the Sixteenth Century.)]
This immense progress, which showed itself simultaneously in France and
in Italy by the production of many original works, seems to have
attained its climax in the execution of a justly celebrated manuscript,
known by the name of “Heures d’Anne de Bretagne” (Fig. 375). Among the
numerous pictures which decorate this book of prayers, many would not be
unworthy of Raphael’s pencil: the expression in the face of the Virgin
Mary is, with many others, remarkable for its sweetness; the heads of
the angels have something divine in them; and the ornaments which occupy
the margin of each page are composed of flowers, fruits, and insects,
represented with all the freshness and brilliancy of nature. This
inimitable masterpiece was, like a sort of sublime testament, to mark
the glorious boundary-line of an art which must necessarily degenerate
now that the printing-press was causing the numerous class of scribes
and illuminators of the Middle Ages to disappear. It has never revived
since, but at intervals; and then more to meet the requirements of fancy
than to be of any real use.
A few manuscripts adorned with miniatures of the end of the sixteenth
century may still be mentioned, especially two “Livres d’Heures”
(prayer-books) painted in _grisaille_, which
[Illustration: Fig. 375.--Miniature from the Prayer-book of Anne de
Bretagne, representing the Archangel St. Michael.
(Musée des Souverains.)]
belonged to Henry II., King of France (now in the Musée des Souverains),
and the “Livre d’Heures,” executed for the Margrave of Baden by a
painter of Lorraine or of Metz named Brentel (Fig. 376), who, however,
did nothing
[Illustration: Fig. 376.--Miniature in the “Livre d’Heures” belonging to
the Margrave of Baden, representing the Portrait of the blessed Bernard
of Baden, who died in the odour of Sanctity, on July 15, 1458.
(Imperial Library, Paris.)]
but put together designs copied from the great masters of Italy and
Flanders. There were, nevertheless, good miniature-painters in France up
to the seventeenth century, to illustrate the manuscripts executed with
so much taste by the famous Jarry and the caligraphers of his school.
The last manifestation of the art shines forth, for example, in the
magnificent “Livre d’Heures” presented to Louis XIV. by the pensioners
of the Hôtel des Invalides, a remarkable work, but yet unworthy to
appear by the side of the “Livre d’Heures d’Anne de Bretagne,” which the
painter seems to have adopted as his model.
[Illustration: Fig. 377.--Escutcheon of France, taken from some
Ornaments in the Manuscript of the “Institution of the Order of the Holy
Ghost.” (Fourteenth Century.)]
BOOKBINDING
Primitive Binding of Books.--Bookbinding among the
Romans.--Bookbinding with Goldsmith’s Work from the Fifth
Century.--Chained Books.--Corporation of _Lieurs_, or
Bookbinders.--Books bound in Wood, with Metal Corners and
Clasps.--First Bindings in Leather, honeycombed (_waffled_?) and
gilt.--Description of some celebrated Bindings of the Fourteenth
and Fifteenth Centuries.--Sources of Modern Bookbinding.--John
Grollier.--President De Thou.--Kings and Queens of France
Bibliomaniacs.--Superiority of Bookbinding in France.
As soon as the ancients had made square books, more convenient to read
than the rolls, binding--that is to say, the art of reuniting the leaves
stitched or stuck (_ligati_) into a movable back, between two square
pieces of wood, ivory, metal, or leather--bookbinding was invented. This
primitive binding, which had no other object than that of preserving the
books, no other merit than than of solidity, was not long ere it became
associated with ornament, and thus put itself in relation with the
luxury of Greek and Roman civilisation. Not contented with placing on
each side of the volume a little tablet of cedar-wood or of oak, on
which was written the title of the book (for books were then laid flat
on the shelves of the library), a piece of leather was stretched over
the edge to preserve it from dust, if the book was valuable, and the
volume was tied up with a strap passed round it many times, and which
was subsequently replaced by clasps. In certain instances the volume was
enveloped in thick cloth, and even enclosed in a case of wood or
leather. Such was the state of bookbinding in ancient times.
There were then, as now, good and bad bookbinders. Cicero, in his
letters to Atticus, asks for two of his slaves who were very clever
_ligatores librorum_ (bookbinders). Bookbinding, however, was not an art
very generally known, for square books, notwithstanding the convenience
of their shape, had not yet superseded rolls; but we see, in the Notices
of the Dignities of the Eastern Empire (“Notitia Dignitatum Imperii),
written towards 450, that this accessory art had already made immense
progress; since certain officers of the empire used to carry, in the
public ceremonies, large square books containing the administrative
instructions of the emperor: these books were bound, covered with green,
red, blue, or yellow leather, closed by means of leathern straps or by
hooks, and ornamented with little golden rods disposed horizontally, or
lozengewise, with the portrait of the sovereign painted or gilt on their
sides. From the fifth century goldsmiths and lapidaries
ornamented binding with great richness. And so we hear St. Jerome
exclaiming:--“Your books are covered with precious stones, and Christ
died naked before the gate of his temple!” “The Book of the Gospels,” in
Greek, given to the basilica of Monza by Theodelinda, queen of the
Lombards, about 600, has still one of these costly bindings.
A specimen of Byzantine art, preserved in the Louvre, is a sort of small
plate, which is supposed to be one of the sides of the cover of a book;
on it we find executed in bas-relief the “Visit of the Holy Women to the
Tomb,” and several other scenes from the Gospels. In this example the
beauty of the figures, the taste which dictated the arrangement of the
draperies, and the finish in the execution, furnish us with evidence
that, in the industrial arts, the Greeks had maintained till the twelfth
century their pre-eminence over all the people of Europe.
In those days the binding of ordinary books was executed without any
ornamentation, this being reserved for sacred books. If, in the
treasures of churches, abbeys, and palaces, a few manuscripts covered
with gold, silver, and precious stones were kept as relics, books in
common use were simply covered in boards or leather; but not without
much attention being given to the binding, which was merely intended to
preserve the volumes. Many documents bear witness to the great care and
precision with which, in certain monasteries, books were bound and
preserved. All sorts of skins were employed in covering them when they
had been once pressed and joined together between boards of hard wood
that would not readily decay: in the North, even the skins of seals and
of sharks were employed, but pig-skin seems to have been used in
preference to all others.
[Illustration: PANEL OF A BOOK COVER.
Bas-relief in Gold Repoussé. Ninth Century. (in the Louvre.)]
It must be admitted that we, perhaps, owe to their rich bindings, which
were well calculated to tempt thieves, the destruction of a number of
valuable manuscripts when towns or monasteries were sacked; but, on the
other hand, the sumptuous bindings with which kings and nobles covered
Bibles, the Gospels, antiphonaries,[58] and missals, have certainly
preserved to us very many curious examples that, without them, would by
degrees have deteriorated, or would not have escaped all the chances of
destruction to which they were exposed. It is thus, for instance, that
the famous manuscript of Sens has descended to us, which contains “La
Messe des Fous,” set to music in the twelfth century; it is bound
between two pieces of ivory, with bas-relief carvings of the fourth
century, representing the festivals of Bacchus. All great public
collections show with pride some of these rare and venerable bindings,
decorated with gold, silver, or copper, engraved, chased, or inlaid with
precious stones or coloured glass, with cameos or antique ivories (Fig.
378). The greater number of rich books of the Gospels mentioned in
history date back as far as the period of Charlemagne, and among these
we must mention, above all, one given by the emperor himself to the
Abbey of St. Riquier, “covered with plates of silver, and ornamented
with gold and gems;” that of St. Maximinius of Treves, which came from
Ada, daughter of Pepin, sister of Charlemagne, and was ornamented with
an engraved agate representing Ada, the emperor, and his sons; and
lastly, one that was to be seen as late as 1727 in the convent of
Hautvillers, near Epernay, and which was bound in carved ivory.
Sometimes these sumptuous volumes were enclosed in an envelope made of
rich stuff; or, in pursuance of an ancient custom, a casket not less
gorgeously decorated than the binding, contained it. The Prayer-book of
Charlemagne, now preserved in the Library of the Louvre, is known to
have been originally enclosed in a small casket of silver gilt, on which
were represented in relief the “Mysteries of the Passion.”
These books, however, bound with goldsmith’s work, were not those that
were chained in churches and in certain libraries (Fig. 379), as some
volumes still in existence show, with the rings through which passed the
chain that fastened them to the desk. These _catenati_ (chained books)
were generally Bibles and missals, bound in wood and heavily ornamented
with metallic corners; which, while placed at the disposition of the
faithful and of the public in general, their owners wished to guarantee
against being stolen.
[Illustration: Fig. 378.--Binding in Gold, adorned with precious Stones
which covered a “Book of the Gospels” of the Eleventh Century,
representing Jesus Crucified, with the Virgin and St. John at the Foot
of the Cross.
(Musée du Louvre).]
We must not forget to mention, among the most beautiful bindings of the
eleventh and twelfth centuries, the coverings of books in enamelled
copper (Fig. 380). The Museum of Cluny possesses two plates of incrusted
enamel of Limoges, which must have belonged to one of these bindings:
the first has for its subject the “Adoration of the Magi;” the other
[Illustration: IVORY DIPTYCH OF THE LOWER EMPIRE.
Serving as a Book Cover, “l’Office des fous.”. (In the Library of
Sens)]
represents the monk Etienne de Muret, founder of the order of Grandmont
(in the twelfth century), conversing with St. Nicholas. The Cathedral of
Milan contains in its treasury the covering of a book still more ancient
and much richer, about fourteen inches long by twelve inches wide, and
profusely covered with incrusted enamel, mounted and ornamented with
polished, but uncut, precious stones of various colours.
[Illustration: Fig. 379.--Library of the University of Leyden, in which
all the Books were chained, even in the Seventeenth Century.]
But all these were only the work of enamellers, goldsmiths,
illuminators, and clasp-makers. The binders, or bookbinders properly so
called, fastened together the leaves of books, and placed them between
two boards, which they then covered with leather, skin, stuff, or
parchment; they added to these coverings sometimes leathern straps,
sometimes metal clasps, sometimes hooks, to keep the volume firmly
closed, and almost always nails, whose round and projecting heads
preserved the flat surface of the binding from being rubbed.
In the year 1299, when the tax was imposed upon the inhabitants of Paris
for the exigencies of the king, it was ascertained that the number of
bookbinders then actually in the town amounted only to seventeen, who,
as well as the scribes and booksellers, were directly dependent on the
[Illustration: Fig. 380.--Large Painted Initial Letter in a Manuscript
in the Royal Library, Brussels, showing the arrangement of the Binding,
in enamelled Metal, of a book of the Gospels. (Ninth or Tenth
Century.)]
University, the authorities of which placed them under the surveillance
of four sworn bookbinders, who were considered the _agents_ of the
University. We must except, however, from this jurisdiction the
acknowledged bookbinder to the “Chambre des Comptes,” who, before he
could be appointed to this office, had to make an affirmation _that he
could neither read nor write_.
In the musters, or processions, of the University of Paris, the
bookbinders came after the booksellers. To explain the relatively small
number of professed bookbinders, we must remember that at this period
the majority of scholars bound their own books, as divers passages of
ancient authors prove; while the monasteries, which were the principal
centres of bookmakers, had one or many members of their community whose
special function it was to bind the works written within their walls.
Tritheimius, Abbot of Spanheim at the end of the fifteenth century, does
not forget the bookbinders in the enumeration he makes of the different
employments of his monks:--“Let that one,” says he, “fasten the leaves
together, and bind the book with boards. You, prepare those boards; you,
dress the leather; you, the metal plates, which are to adorn the
binding.” These bindings are represented on the seal of the University
of Oxford (Fig. 381), and on the banners of some French corporation of
printers and booksellers (Figs. 382 and 386).
The metal plates, the corners, the nails, the clasps with which these
volumes were then laden rendered them so heavy that, in order to enable
the reader to turn over the leaves with facility, they were placed on
one of those revolving desks having space for many open folios at the
same time, and which were capable of accommodating many readers
simultaneously. It is said that Petrarch had caused a volume containing
the “Epistles of Cicero,” transcribed by himself, to be bound so
massively, that as he was continually reading it, he often let it fall
and injured his leg; so badly once that he was threatened with
amputation. This manuscript in Petrarch’s handwriting is still to be
seen in the Laurentian Library at Florence; it is bound in wood, with
edges and clasps of copper.
The Crusades, which introduced into Europe many luxurious customs, must
have had great influence on bookbinding, since the Arabs had for a long
while known the art of preparing, dyeing, stamping, and gilding the
skins they employed to make covers for books: these covers took the name
of _alæ_ (the wings), no doubt from the resemblance between them and
the wings of a bird of rich plumage. The Crusaders having brought back
from their expeditions specimens of Oriental binding, our European
workmen did not fail to turn their brilliant models to account.
[Illustration: Fig. 381.--Seal of the University of Oxford, in which is
a Book bound with Corners and Clasps.]
An entire revolution, moreover, which had taken place in the formation
of royal and princely libraries, was to produce a revolution in binding
also. Bibles, missals, reproductions of ancient authors, treatises on
theology, were no longer the only books in common use. The new language
had given rise to histories, romances, and poems, which were the delight
of a society becoming more and more polished every day. For the pleasure
of readers, the gallant of one sex and the fair of the other, books were
required more agreeable to the eye, and less rough to the touch, than
those used for the edification of monks or the instruction of scholars.
And first of all were substituted, for the purpose of manuscripts, sizes
more portable than the grave folio. Then fine and smooth vellum was used
for writing, and books were covered in velvet, silk, or woollen stuffs.
Moreover, paper, a recent invention, opened up a new era for libraries;
but two centuries were to elapse before pasteboard had entirely taken
the place of wooden covers.