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DE WEG DER ZALIGHEID IN JESUS ZOO ALS DEZELVE . . . VOORGESTELD IN EENIGE LEERREDENEN DOOR.
(Amsterdam: Johannes Wessing, Willemsz. 1779). 214 x 132 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/4"). XVI, [28], 384 pp., [1] leaf (errata). FIRST EDITION.
SUPERB BURGUNDY MOROCCO, LAVISHLY GILT IN THE ROCOCO STYLE, BY THE ROCAILLE-AND-FLOWER BINDERY, covers with lacy border composed of floral spray tool with large central rose (Storm van Leeuwen tool 13) alternating with rose sprig (tool 48), inner frame with long sides formed by two gilt fillets between two swag rolls (Storm van Leeuwen roll VIII), head and foot of frame with large fruit-and-flower basket (Storm van Leeuwen tool 2) balanced between two rocaille ornaments (tool 4), corners with oblique floral springs (tool 18), center panel with lozenge formed by mirrored fruit-and-flower basket (tool 2) and floral ornament (tool 5), raised bands, spine compartments with central floral spray (tool 44), rocaille cornerpieces, dark green morocco label, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt. For the binding: Storm van Leeuwen, "Dutch Decorated Bookbinding in the Eighteenth Century" 2.2.51 (vol. I, 671-79). ◆Corners gently bumped, trivial rubbing to extremities, a touch of crackling to spine, a little lost patina at head edge of spine and heads of joints (from insect activity?), but all these imperfections trivial; A FINE COPY, entirely clean, fresh, and bright internally, in a very well-preserved binding shining with gilt.
This is a rare example of the bindings produced by the Amsterdam workshop dubbed the Rocaille-and-Flower Bindery (Rocaillebloembinderij, fl. 1775-1812). The bindery takes its name from its most distinctive tools--exuberant blossoms and the shell-like ornamental motif used in Rococo designs—seen here on a collection of sermons discussing salvation by Dutch theologian Theodor Adrian Clarisse (d. 1828). Storm van Leeuwen locates 17 bindings produced by the bindery: "up to c. 1783, there are mainly luxurious bindings with fairly rich cover tooling, and from the late period, after c. 1793, various semi-luxurious prize bindings." Our volume clearly belongs to the former group, its publication date falling squarely in the middle of the bindery's heyday. Storm van Leeuwen characterizes the bindery's output as the work of "a binder who was adept at both skills [forwarding and finishing] as well as being a man of taste." The British Library Database of Bookbindings contains two specimens from the Rocaille-and-Flower Bindery, both on works bound for William V of Orange and held by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek (shelf marks 139E2:2 and 138E8:1); both are in red morocco, with the same basic cover design seen on our volume and with several of the same tools employed; like the present item, both are works of theology. Their royal provenance would seem to be an indication of the prominence of the bindery and the reputed skill of its artisans. We could find no other bindings by the Rocaille-and-Flower Bindery in auction records. (ST16966)
Price: $3,000.00