Description
In the first illustrated guide to the subject, Bennett formerly of Sotheby's and Christie's and now an independent bookseller presents new documentary and visual evidence that challenges conventional wisdom on the way books were bound and sold in the later handpress period. Many color illustrations show what the bindings of sheep, calf, and goat as well as boards and wrappers looked like and how their styles evolved. Co-published with The British Library. Oversize: 9.25x12.25
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Stuart Bennett's landmark study is the first illustrated guide to a complex and controversial subject. In 1930, in The Evolution of Publishers' Binding Styles, Michael Sadleir declared that "the bookseller-publisher of the decades from 1730 to 1770 issued his books either in loose quires, or stitched, or at most in a plain paper wrapper." This view is still generally accepted. Bennett, however, presents new documentary and visual evidence that books were predominantly sold ready-bound in sheep, calf, and goat as well as boards and wrappers. Over two hundred color illustrations show what these bindings looked like, and how their styles evolved.
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