An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
or of Lyonese workmanship. The binding of the Cracherode copy of the Greek Anthology, printed
at Florence, in 1494 which is now in the British Museum [CoIgd. 12.], bears the heads of Philip
and Alexander in cameo, and is tooled in gold, with borders of interlaced work, which, though
obviously derived from some Venetian original, are designed in a manner peculiar to the
Florentine binders. Another example, in which this manner becomes still more emphasised, is the
binding of a manuscript of Onosander, in the possession of Mr. William Morris, which is figured in
Plate III. Like the copy of the Anthology, this book is bound in red morocco, and the borders are
tooled in gold. It is said to have come from the' library of Lorenzo de' Medici; and its binding was
apparently executed at the beginning of the sixteenth century. The characteristics of this
Florentine manner would be difficult to describe, as the elements of design and the methods of
workmanship, which accompany it, differ but "slightly, from those used by the Venetian binders:
but upon a comparison, the difference between the two manners is sufficiently obvious. The
binding of a copy of the Enchiridium Grammatices, of Eufrosino Bonini, Florence, 1514, also in the
British Museum [C. 66. d. g.], affords another instance of Florentine workmanship, unlike either
of the foregoing examples. This book, which is figured in Plate IV., is covered in brown morocco;
and bears a cameo in high relief of Julius Caesar, repeated on either cover, and sunk into the
boards, which are of wood, and of an unusual thickness. By this device, the projecting surfaces
of the cameos, are guarded from friction, which is the chief practical objection to the insertion of
such ornaments upon a binding. The groove, which occurs on the edges of the boards, is
thought to have been copied from Greek manuscripts; and is not uncommon in early Italian
bindings. Towards the end of the sixteenth century, Italian bookbinding, in common with the
other decorative arts, deteriorated in a very extraordinary degree; but while it lost its beauty,
invention, and charm, it always retained a certain unity of effect, together with a virile sense of
decoration, which gave it an artistic value.