Binding by Paul Bonet, 1957
Alphonse Daudet (1840–1897)
Aventures prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon
Paris: par le Groupe de Bibliophiles et Amateurs d'Art, Scripta et Picta, 1937
Illustrated with 107 colored lithographs in text and 34 large decorated initials by Raoul Dufy
Quarto
330 x 250 x 33 mm
© The Wormsley Library, United Kingdom
ALPHONSE DAUDET. Aventures prodigieuses de Tartarin de Tarascon. Paris: par le Groupe de Bibliophiles et Amateurs d'Art, Scripta et Picta, 1937.
Illustrated with 107 coloured lithographs in the text and thirty-four large decorated initials by Raoul Dufy.
Bound in 1957 in dark-blue goatskin to a design by Paul Bonet of a lion's head, onlaid in various coloured calfskins, the eyes tooled in gilt, and a background of palladium stars; smooth spine lettered in gilt; red suede endleaves; gilt edges.
This is the twentieth binding Paul Bonet designed for this text; in all he did twenty-eight copies, all different; about half are variations on the lion's head theme. Bonet did none of the actual binding himself; the forwarding for this volume (the binding work up to the decoration which is done by the finisher), is by his favourite forwarder, René Desmules. The binding was begun in July 1956 and completed the following January.
Born in Paris in 1889 to Belgian parents, Bonet rose to become the leader of French binders. Two particular styles of his work are known as "irradiante," which consists of massed gilt lines giving a three-dimensional optical-illusion effect, and "rayonnante," a sun-burst effect.
© The Wormsley Library, United Kingdom