Van der Vekene (Émile), born 1933; Hamanová (Pavlína), 1894-1978; Nixon (Howard M.), 1909-1983
Les reliures aux armoiries de Pierre Ernest de Mansfeld… avec la collaboration de Pavlína Hamanová et Howard M. Nixon; avant-propos de Jacques Guignard
Luxembourg, Éditions de l'Imprimerie Saint-Paul, 1978
(35 cm), 121 (3) pp., numerous illustrations (19 in colour, mounted). Publisher’s brown cloth, the upper cover blocked in gilt, red & black; printed dust jacket. - Account of a small group of splendidly bound books (33 works in 18 volumes, plus 1 fake by Louis Hagué) acquired in 1555-1556 by the Governor of Luxembourg, Peter Ernst, Fürst von Mansfeld (1517-1604), while he was incarcerated at Vincennes. Howard Nixon’s contribution, in English, attributes the bindings to a single Parisian craftsman, whom he calls the “Mansfeld Binder”, and provides a survey of Parisian shops practising gold-tooling in the mid-sixteenth century, and an outline of Jean Grolier’s collecting career. ¶ Copy 415 of 800 printed “sur papier crème Darwin de 200 grammes”. Excellent, unmarked copy.