1909 · London
by (BINDINGS - BAYNTUN-RIVIERE). (FLORENCE PRESS). (ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI)
London: Published for the Florence Press by Chatto and Windus, 1909. No. 438 OF 500 COPIES on paper, of which 475 were for sale (and 12 copies on vellum). 280 x 220 mm. (11 x 8 3/4"). xv, [1], 135, [2] pp., followed by plates.Translated from the Italian by T. W. Arnold.
VERY PRETTY MODERN GREEN MOROCCO, VERY INTRICATELY GILT AND ONLAID, BY BAYNTUN-RIVIERE (stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in), covers with gothic-style compartments, that at center with a wreath of onlaid flowers in red, ivory, and sienna morocco, accented with small gilt birds, the small compartments flanking it with onlaid green flowers and intricate gilt strapwork, the leather surrounding the design semé with tiny blind-stamped flowers, an onlaid ivory morocco bird and a branch of onlaid flowers at each corner, raised bands, spine compartments with gilt bird at center, onlaid flower vine at two diagonally opposed corners, gilt lettering, turn-ins with gilt floral roll, corners with two gilt birds and onlaid sienna morocco floral sprigs, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In a fleece-lined green buckram clamshell box with red morocco label on spine. Title page with engraved architectural frame printed in red, and with 25 plates reproducing illustrations from the Codice Laurenziano Gaddiano CXII in the Laurentian Library, Florence. Invoice from Bayntun-Riviere to Captain Richard Campbell dated 11 April 1990 laid in at front; verso of front free endpaper with Capt. Campbell's engraved nautical bookplate. Upper cover with loss of one onlay and chips to four others, and with minor loss to a couple gilt leaves and one gilt bird, but the binding otherwise unworn, and a fine copy internally, entirely clean, fresh, and bright.
This is a high-quality fine press edition of the "Fioretti" or "Little Flowers" of St. Francis of Assisi, beautifully bound and tooled with a garden-like composition by a leading British bindery. Composed at the end of the 14th century, these short stories of the saint and his early disciples, including the famous tale of the taming of the wolf of Gubbio, were written by later followers of St. Francis known as the Spirituals. They adhered to the doctrine of Absolute Poverty, which held that Christ and the Apostles had owned nothing whatsoever. This edition is illustrated with a series of sepia reproductions from MS Gaddiano 112, a 14th century manuscript containing the legends of St. Francis with an exceptional array of narrative images done in ink and watercolor--a very unusual technique for the time period. Founded in 1908 by the London publishers Chatto & Windus and operated by Philip Lee Warner, the Florence Press had as its expressed intention the production of "beautiful books in the choicest types . . . in larger editions, and at [lower] cost than [was] usual with such monuments of typography as the issues of the Kelmscott [and other] presses." Florence books are readily distinguishable by their special type, designed by Herbert P. Horne after 15th century Italian faces that are elegant, simple, and easily readable. Taking inspiration from the title, the Bayntun-Riviere bindery created for our volume a verdurous binding replete with floral inlays, gilt flora and fauna, and a field of small blind-tooled flowers, all centered around a gothic archway that seems to beckon us to discover a secret garden within. The long-lived Riviere firm began with Robert, who set up as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829, then established a bindery in London in 1840; in 1881, he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership, at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son; the bindery continued to do business until 1939, when it merged with Bayntun of Bath. Rivere's work has consistently been of the highest standard throughout its long years of operation, and the present volume, with its lovely tooling and overall design, is an especially pleasing example of their work. Captain Richard Campbell (1933-2023) was a hydrographer for the British Navy and commanded the hospital ship HMS Hydra during the Falklands War. According to his Telegraph's obituary, Campbell was a colorful character ("he drove an open-top Lagonda with the flaps of his deerstalker and tweed cape blowing behind"), and more important for us, he was "a discriminating" collector of books. The laid-in invoice indicates that Campbell paid £1,000 (the equivalent of $1,963 in 1990) for our extravagantly decorated binding.. (Inventory #: ST20141)
VERY PRETTY MODERN GREEN MOROCCO, VERY INTRICATELY GILT AND ONLAID, BY BAYNTUN-RIVIERE (stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in), covers with gothic-style compartments, that at center with a wreath of onlaid flowers in red, ivory, and sienna morocco, accented with small gilt birds, the small compartments flanking it with onlaid green flowers and intricate gilt strapwork, the leather surrounding the design semé with tiny blind-stamped flowers, an onlaid ivory morocco bird and a branch of onlaid flowers at each corner, raised bands, spine compartments with gilt bird at center, onlaid flower vine at two diagonally opposed corners, gilt lettering, turn-ins with gilt floral roll, corners with two gilt birds and onlaid sienna morocco floral sprigs, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, other edges untrimmed. In a fleece-lined green buckram clamshell box with red morocco label on spine. Title page with engraved architectural frame printed in red, and with 25 plates reproducing illustrations from the Codice Laurenziano Gaddiano CXII in the Laurentian Library, Florence. Invoice from Bayntun-Riviere to Captain Richard Campbell dated 11 April 1990 laid in at front; verso of front free endpaper with Capt. Campbell's engraved nautical bookplate. Upper cover with loss of one onlay and chips to four others, and with minor loss to a couple gilt leaves and one gilt bird, but the binding otherwise unworn, and a fine copy internally, entirely clean, fresh, and bright.
This is a high-quality fine press edition of the "Fioretti" or "Little Flowers" of St. Francis of Assisi, beautifully bound and tooled with a garden-like composition by a leading British bindery. Composed at the end of the 14th century, these short stories of the saint and his early disciples, including the famous tale of the taming of the wolf of Gubbio, were written by later followers of St. Francis known as the Spirituals. They adhered to the doctrine of Absolute Poverty, which held that Christ and the Apostles had owned nothing whatsoever. This edition is illustrated with a series of sepia reproductions from MS Gaddiano 112, a 14th century manuscript containing the legends of St. Francis with an exceptional array of narrative images done in ink and watercolor--a very unusual technique for the time period. Founded in 1908 by the London publishers Chatto & Windus and operated by Philip Lee Warner, the Florence Press had as its expressed intention the production of "beautiful books in the choicest types . . . in larger editions, and at [lower] cost than [was] usual with such monuments of typography as the issues of the Kelmscott [and other] presses." Florence books are readily distinguishable by their special type, designed by Herbert P. Horne after 15th century Italian faces that are elegant, simple, and easily readable. Taking inspiration from the title, the Bayntun-Riviere bindery created for our volume a verdurous binding replete with floral inlays, gilt flora and fauna, and a field of small blind-tooled flowers, all centered around a gothic archway that seems to beckon us to discover a secret garden within. The long-lived Riviere firm began with Robert, who set up as a bookseller and binder in Bath in 1829, then established a bindery in London in 1840; in 1881, he took his grandson Percival Calkin into partnership, at which time the firm became known as Riviere & Son; the bindery continued to do business until 1939, when it merged with Bayntun of Bath. Rivere's work has consistently been of the highest standard throughout its long years of operation, and the present volume, with its lovely tooling and overall design, is an especially pleasing example of their work. Captain Richard Campbell (1933-2023) was a hydrographer for the British Navy and commanded the hospital ship HMS Hydra during the Falklands War. According to his Telegraph's obituary, Campbell was a colorful character ("he drove an open-top Lagonda with the flaps of his deerstalker and tweed cape blowing behind"), and more important for us, he was "a discriminating" collector of books. The laid-in invoice indicates that Campbell paid £1,000 (the equivalent of $1,963 in 1990) for our extravagantly decorated binding.. (Inventory #: ST20141)
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