Based on The Sandars Lectures for 1927, this beautifully presented 1929 volume provides a historical study of English binding.

The work of G. D. Hobson on the history of bookbinding, in particular English medieval and Renaissance bindings, is well known. His studies on Romanesque English bookbinding marked a pioneer effort to trace the development of the art of binding in early medieval England, and remain the fundamental introduction to the subject. Similarly, his celebrated study of blind-stamped panels in the English Renaissance book-trade has become a classic. The author's interests also extended to French bindings, and his work on Parisian bookbinding in the first quarter of the sixteenth century is of great importance; it is reprinted here with a number of his other studies on Grolier bindings. The collection of these articles in one volume, with an introduction by A.R.A. Hobson, represents not only a valuable introduction to the work of one of the major authorities on English bookbinding, but also a compendium of some of the most outstanding contributions to the subject.

Mammoth volume by one of the world's foremost practitioners. Both historical survey emphasizing decorated bindings, and eminently practical guide to hand bookbinding. 93 plates, 242 figures.

This selection of papers by major scholars introduces students to the history of the book in the West from late Antiquity to the publication of the Gutenberg Bible and the beginning of the print revolution. The collection opens with wide-ranging papers on handwriting and the physical make-up of the book. In the second group of papers the emphasis is on the ’look’ of the book, complemented by a third group dealing with scribes, readers and the availability of books. The editors’ introduction provides an overview of the medieval book.

A study of the tools used on blind-stamped bindings in England between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries.

"...skillfully compiled...should be useful to anyone interested in placing his or her studies in the context of printed and bound literature..." --ENGLISH LITERATURE IN TRANSITION 1880-1920

Among the many books in original bindings in Marsh's Library, Dublin, a surprisingly large number are in decorated blind- or gold-tooled, calf, pigskin or goatskin bindings, which date from the 15th to the 19th centuries. The bindings come from all over Europe, ranging from Ireland to eastern Europe. While most were made in England, some fine and interesting examples from Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Holland are also included. In this volume, leading scholar Mirjam Foot first gives an overview of how books were bound by hand and then describes the bindings by country of origin, within each section treating them chronologically and by type of decoration. The detailed descriptions of the bindings are illustrated with 52 black and white photos and 8 colour plates.

Between roughly 1350 and 1500, the English vernacular became established as a language of literary, bureaucratic, devotional and controversial writing; metropolitan artisans formed guilds for the production and sale of books for the first time; and Gutenberg's and eventually Caxton's printed books reached their first English consumers. This book gathers the best work on manuscript books in England made during this crucial but neglected period. Its authors survey existing research, gather intensive new evidence and develop new approaches to key topics. The chapters cover the material conditions and economy of the book trade; amateur production both lay and religious; the effects of censorship; and the impact on English book production of manuscripts and artisans from elsewhere in the British Isles and Europe. A wide-ranging and innovative series of essays, this volume is a major contribution to the history of the book in medieval England.

Based on the Lyell Lectures given by Howard Nixon at Oxford in 1979, this lavishly illustrated book traces the decorated binding in England from the earliest surviving example, the St Cuthbert Gospel dating from a little before the end of the seventh century, to the beginning of the Modern Movement in the late 1940s. This books emphasis is on fine binding in leather, with the styles and designs used for its decoration, and with the tools employed to effect these designs. This work is the first to trace comprehensively the development of this English tradition and bring together numerous illustrations of the superb bindings produced over the last eight centuries.