Nixon (Howard M.), 1909-1983
British Museum, Department of Printed Books

(22.5 cm), xx, 76 pp., frontispiece (in colour), 128 plates, 11 plates reproducing rubbings of 282 different tools. Publisher’s skivertex binding. - Exhibition catalogue commemorating the fourth centenary of Grolier’s death, featuring 138 volumes, all that could be traced in British and Irish libraries (counting each volume of a multi-volume work separately, including one empty binding, and one of doubtful provenance). Nixon here identifies a binder hitherto known as the “Entrelac Binder” as Claude de Picques, well-known as the Royal Binder to Henri II; 84 of the 138 bindings in the exhibition are assigned to de Picques. Nixon’s careful study and reproductions of the individual tools used by different workshops, together with his observations about the binding shops that worked for Grolier, give this catalogue an enduring utility. ¶ Excellent copy.