The Book as Art Object
The Book as Art Object |
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Long before the advent of print, there was an established tradition of making beautiful books. The medieval mind delighted in the ornate and colorful, and throughout the age of hand-created books, many exquisite works of art were produced. Besides the mere copyists, there were artists in the Middle Ages who were called illuminatores. This profession was devoted to the embellishment of manuscript books by painting and drawing.
With the introduction of print and the subsequent decline in hand-made books, use of illuminators to adorn books ceased. But interest in creating beautiful books remained a strong inclination among printers. One aspect in the creation of beautiful books is bookbinding. With the vast majority of books, we know the name of both the author and the illustrator, but often the master craftsman who bound the book remains unknown. Scholars have been forced to refer to bookbinders by the tools they used, or for whom they did their work. Such names as the "Queen's Binder A" are often the appellations given to these great artists whose names have been lost to history.
Included in this section are a number of examples that illustrate the creation of books as art objects. Some examples show the interest in creating pages that are clear, attractive to look at, and creatively designed. Other examples here show the art of bookbinding, of creating a book that can be judged by its cover.
Image: Anchor and dolphin, printer's device from the Aldine Press, Venice, sixteenth century
Aldus Manutius was a scholar with a passion for the classics of Greece and Rome. And as with many scholars in the Renaissance, Aldus was extremely concerned with the production of accurate texts. Born in 1450 at Bassiano, Italy, Aldus studied in Rome under some of the most important scholars of the day. From 1482 to 1484 he was the guest of Count Pico della Mirandola, the brilliant exponent of Florentine Platonism. With the growth of interest in the new invention of printing, Aldus decided to set up a press in Venice in 1490. His first books came out in 1494. Since most Latin classics were already printed, most of Aldus' books were Greek, as the one seen here. In the course of his career he printed the first Greek editions of Aristophanes, Aristotle, Thucydides, Aeschylus, Sophocles, Plato, Demosthenes, Herodotus, and Pindar. No other early printer made a more important contribution to the dissemination of knowledge.
Images: Binding of Florilegium Images: Cover with decorative binding Morris was remarkable in a variety of ways. During his illustrious career he worked as a writer, a poet, an artist, a craftsman, and a designer. The power of his designs was so compelling that he influenced the development of furniture, fabrics, and interior decoration, as well as books.
After Morris heard a lecture on printing in 1888 he focused his zeal on producing beautiful books. He began, as usual, by studying the best examples of books from the past, especially those examples from the Middle Ages. Soon he had designed his own type, named Golden Type. Later he designed the Troy Type, based, more or less, on Gothic letters. From the early 1890s, he was publishing books under the name of the Kelmscott Press, after his lovely country house, Kelmscott Manor. During the history of this press, Morris, who cared very little for public opinion, printed only books that he was interested in reading. He included titles by Keats, Shelley, Coleridge, and Ruskin, as well as a number of medieval titles, including Beowulf. His masterpiece was an edition of Chaucer, his favorite author. Morris' bold and original design, so clearly evident in this example, was extremely influential anong other book makers and especially in America and Germany.
A page from Morris' edition of Ruskin. Note the detailed scrollwork around the text block, the woodcut initial, and the clear, crisp typeface. Images: Highly decorative binding of book including the title in gold lettering Due to space restrictions, this book is not on display in the Rotunda exhibit.
Images: Title page Due to space restrictions, this book is not on display in the Rotunda exhibit.
Images: Title page The Bible Gallery By Talbot W. Chambers with illustrations by Gustave Doré Published by Cassell, Peter Galpin & Company London 1880
Purgatory and Paradise By Dante with illustrations by Gustave Doré Published by Cassell & Company New York
Images: Title page of Milton's Paradise Lost
Images: Detailed cover from Dante Click on thumbnails for full-page images.
Florilegium diversorum epigrammatum in septem libros printed by the Aldine Press in Venice 1525
This text is both a beautiful example of the art of making books and an important historical document in the history of printing. Note the device of Aldus, the dolphin and anchor, in the back of the book. Before the advent of the title page, which identifies the publisher in the modern book, printers placed a colophon in the end of the book identifying themselves. That of Aldus is one of the most important in the history of early printing.
Title page showing printer's device of anchor and dolphin. For a slightly larger image, click here.
Page of text in Greek. Note the beautiful italic typeface, another of the many innovations from the Aldine Press.
Decorative interior binding. It is difficult to reproduce the shimmering luminosity of the paper used here.
Poems By Thomas Stanley Printed in 1651
This seventeenth century book of poetry is a wonderful example of bookbinding. Note the gilt tooling and the interesting decorative design on the binding. This was not the orginal cover, but the bookbinder who bound this work (probably in the nineteenth century) created a tasteful and appropriate cover for this literary text.
Page of text with selected poems. Note the old English letterform for the letter 's' and the placement of the first word from the next page at the foot, as an aid to the printer.
Title page of Stanley's Poems
The Nature of Gothic By John Ruskin Printed by William Morris at the Kelmscott Press London 1892
It is generally agreed that, by the middle of the nineteenth century, standards of design in printing had fallen to a low level. Mass production and intense competition are usually blamed for the decline. The only way to reverse this downward trend was to completely rethink the process of creating books of quality. In the 1890s, due largely to the genius and vision of William Morris, who inspired the so called "Private Press Movement," the book as an art object was revived.
The last page of the book, including the colophon featuring the Kelmscott Press device. For a more detailed view of the printer's device, click here.
A Compendious History of the Goths, Swedes, & Vandals and Other Northern Nations
By Olaus Magnus, Arch-Bishop of Upsall Printed by F. Streater London 1658
This book is an excellent example of the bookbinder's art. The anonymous craftsman, who produced this cover, was especially adept at creating an interesting and tasteful decorative motif. And the binding is especially rich in decorative detail.
Title page of the Magnus History
While preparing for the exhibit, we discovered a statement, written evidently in an eighteenth-century hand, which appears to read: 'I am good for nothing' on the final page of the book. Click here to see a reversed image.
Against War By Erasmus Published by the Merrymount Press Boston
1907
This product of the "Private Press Movement" shows the strong influence of William Morris. Although more Classical in quality and less Gothic than Morris, it clearly reflects his interest in bold and aesthetically interesting type and in orginality of design.
Last page showing colophon of the Merrymount Express. Note that this is a limited, numbered edition.
Page of text from Erasmus' Against War
Interpretatio Obeliscorum Urbis By Gregory XVI Published by Typographia Reverendae Camerae Apostolicae Rome, 1842
This large book from the Vatican in Rome presents a particularly striking effect with its bold red color and gilt tooled decorative motif.
Decorative binding
Detail of binding including gold-lettered title on spine
Paradise Lost By John Milton with illustrations by Gustave Doré Published by Cassell & Company London, 1866
Two of the three books shown here are from one of the great series of nineteenth century books, a set of the classics illustrated by the French artist Gustave Doré. The other title, The Bible Gallery, reflects Doré's interest in illustrating Biblical themes. Born in Strasbourg in 1832, Doré showed talent at an early age. In 1847, Charles Philippon published his Labours of Hercules, which launched his career. By the early 1850s Doré embarked on his labor of love, a project to illustrate a series of masterpieces of world literature. The project proved his major occupation for the next 20 years. In all he illustrated 15 different classics, ranging from Montaigne's Essais of 1859, to Poe's "Raven" in 1883. All three of these examples reflect Doré's interest in creating both beautiful and striking covers, and excellent interior prints.
Illustration of Satan being cast out of heaven
Text from Book I describing the battle in heaven and Satan's fall
One of Doré's illustrations from Dante's Purgatory and Paradise
Illustration of the Tower of Babel from The Bible Gallery
Cover of The Bible Gallery
