The History of Decorated Bookbinding in England (Lyell Lectures) - Hardcover

The History of Decorated Bookbinding in England

Hardcover. Zustand: Very Good. 8vo (24 cm), XVIII, 124 pp, 128 plates. Publisher's red cloth, lettered and decoratively bordered in gilt to the upper board, spine lettered in gilt with decorative devices (edge of rear board slightly damaged at tail). First edition. A standard scholarly history of English decorated bookbinding, originating in Howard Nixon's 1979 Lyell Lectures delivered at the University of Oxford and completed after his death by Mirjam M. Foot. Nixon, Keeper of Printed Books at the British Museum and one of the foremost twentieth-century authorities on historical bindings, intended the work as a comprehensive survey of the development of English binding decoration from the earliest surviving examples to the emergence of modern artistic binding. Left incomplete at Nixon's death in 1983, the manuscript was reconstructed, expanded, and prepared for publication by Foot, who incorporated additional references, restored missing sections, and provided a detailed preface explaining the editorial process. The six chapters trace the history of English decorated bindings from the seventh-century binding of the St Cuthbert Gospel through medieval and Renaissance work, sixteenth-century gold tooling, seventeenth-century royal and Restoration bindings, eighteenth-century developments, and the revival of artistic binding from 1898 to the modern movement, including the work of Cobden-Sanderson and the Guild of Women-Binders. The volume is illustrated with 128 plates, including twelve in colour, reproducing important examples of English craftsmanship such as early medieval bindings, royal presentation bindings for Charles I and Queen Charlotte, and influential Arts and Crafts examples. With its combination of historical scholarship, technical observation, and exceptional visual documentation, this remains an essential reference work for the study of English bookbinding, decorative arts, and the history of the book. Artikel-Nr. 009923

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