In a previous post [link], details were presented of some bindings decorated with arabesque ornament. Apart from one binding, tooled in black on parchment, the covering material of those volumes is goatskin, and the decoration either in gilt or blind (occasionally both). Although they contain mostly Venetian books, printed from the second quarter of the sixteenth century until about 1560, the bindings were attributed to Bolognese workshops, and were organised by shop or by design elements.

The question of how this arabesque ornament was applied on the covers was not always resolved. Anthony Hobson believed that it was impressed using pairs of large panel stamps, positioned in a screw press.¹ To our eyes, not all of the bindings Hobson identifies as panel-stamped were decorated in that manner. We suppose that some were decorated conventionally, using blocks and small hand tools.

The bindings discussed in the previous post display rectangular panels, or arabesque ornament enclosed within rectangular frames. Here we present bindings with similar arabesque decoration confined within the contours of a stylised, multi-lobed leaf of Islamic inspiration. Hobson identifies eleven bindings featuring panel stamps (plaques) of such design, and supposes that the “plaque either existed in more than one copy or was passed from one shop to another”.²

Although we concur that all eleven are panel-stamped bindings, the bindings are not impressed by the same panel. We see a variety of designs, even on a single binding, and presume that numerous panels were in use simultaneously. Hobson’s eleven bindings are rearranged in the List below in three types (II-A/1-8, II-B/1, II-C/1-2), and details of some comparable bindings added (II-A/9-14, II-B/2-3, II-D/1, II-E/1-2).

Fig. 1. Some lobed elliptical panel stamps used at Bologna (II-A/1, II-B/1, II-C/1, II-D/1)

Fig. 2. Details from upper and lower covers of Serafino (II-B/1)

Until recently, it was assumed that all bookbinders’ panel stamps were engraved in metal and therefore unique artefacts, with a chronological sequence of use that could be studied like a printmaker’s engraved or woodcut matrix, and tracked from place to place. Staffan Fogelmark’s revelation,³ that the panel stamps used in the Low Countries in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries were produced by casting and exist in multiple examples, solved the mystery of how apparently identical panel stamps could be used by different hands at the same time. Subordinate re-casting of a panel (a process Fogelmark calls “clichage”) accounts for design variations from the original cast stamp. How these first-generation casting moulds were made is not fully understood. Fogelmark imagines that the maker worked in clay or some other soft material that could take impressions and later be hardened for casting. Hand tools (Fogelmark’s examples are cast types and rolls) were impressed in this pasta to create a prototype design from which a mould was taken, which in turn produced a metal plate. This could in turn be moulded with changes made to the design if desired.

Examples of cornerpieces
Left used on II-A/1, II-A/2, II-A/8, II-A/13, II-C/2
Middle used on II-A/4, II-A/7, II-A/10, I-A/11, I-B/1, II-B/2. Right used on II-A/3

Examples of emblematic stamps
Top used on II-A/1 (lower), II-A/1 (upper), I-A/2 (upper), II-A/7 (lower)
Bottom used on II-A/11 (upper), II-B/1 (upper), II-E/1 (lower), II-D/1 lower)

Binding books was a business proposition, and we may assume that binders were constantly striving for economy. The purpose of the panel stamp was to save time and labour, and this was perfectly achieved when a complete design was stamped on both covers in a single operation. Accordingly, any borders, cornerpieces, or central icons should be present in the panel die.

The cartouches were often filled by an emblem representative of the volume’s contents, as for example the crucifix on Malipiero’s expurgation of the Petrarchian Canzoniere (II-A/3), but Cupid drawing his bow to inspire romantic love on the original text (II-A/5). The process of clichage enabled binders to offer customers alternative figures and symbols, each icon however centred on the same arabesque panel. For those customers who wanted their Petrarch lettered with their name or motto (II-A/4, II-A/6), the binder could use panels with an empty cartouche. Clichage also allowed the binder to adjust the panel stamp to books of varying dimensions, by adding or subtracting borders (II-A/11, I-E/2).

No one knows who undertook the manufacture of arabesque panel stamps and how they were marketed. As anonymous merchandise, the stamps are difficult to localise, let alone attribute to a specific binder. In the previous post, we saw that Hobson unhesitatingly associated certain panel stamps with specific Bolognese shops, for the reason that an emblematic figure appeared in the cartouche, which he recognised as belonging to a particular binder.

Most of the bindings listed below have a cartouche filled with a title (II-A/5, II-A/6, II-A/7, II-A/8, II-A/9, II-A/10, II-A/11, II-A/12, II-B/2) or owner’s name (II-A/6, II-B/2) or initials (II-C/1, II-C/2) or motto (II-A/4); some have instead (or in addition) an icon: a Crucifix (II-A/1, II-A/3), Madonna and Child (II-A/1, II-A/3), St John the Baptist (II-A/2), bust of a poet (II-A/7, II-A/10), Cupid with bow (II-A/5, II-A/11, II-B/1, II-C/2, II-E/1), wolf’s head (II-A/11), flaming pot (II-D/1). These small engraved objects are likely to have been made and sold in the same channels as the panel stamps, and, likewise, could have belonged to various binders, concurrently. Attributions of these bindings to Bolognese binderies must therefore be seen as provisional.

type a

(II-A/1) Alberto da Castello, Rosario de la gloriosa Vergine Maria (Venice: Vittore Ravani & C., October 1541)

provenance
● Gioacchino Muñoz (1777-1847), printed label “Abate Giovachino Mugnoz Spagnuolo donò alla Comune di Bologna 1844”
● Bologna, Biblioteca comunale dell’Archiginnasio, 16.i.III.21 (opac “pelle marocchino rosso, con impr. in oro: crocifisso sul piatto ant. e madonna con bambino sul piatto post., tre doppi nervi, taglio goffrato” [link])

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, pp.174-175 (“With the ‘Pflug and Ebeleben Binder’s’ familiar tools of the Crucifixion and Madonna and Child”) & Fig. 16
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30
Federico Macchi, Legature storiche dell’Archiginnasio (“Cuoio di capra bruno su cartone decorato a secco e in oro. Cornice a un filetto. Fregi fitomorfi, corolle stilizzate dalla testa bombata e fogliami trilobati lungo il margine interno dello specchio. Ampia mandorla sotto forma di placca di gusto orientaleggiante con, nel mezzo del piatto anteriore la Crocifissione, il busto della Madonna e il Bambino di profilo destro entro serto di stelle in quello posteriore. Coppia di cordami su sfondo triangolare, quattro fogliami trilobati e rosette esalobata bucata negli scompartimenti del dorso.” [link, link])
Federico Macchi, A fior di pelle: Legature bolognesi in Archiginnasio (second edition, Bologna 1999), p.21 no. 15


(II-A/2) St Johannes Chrysostomus, Commentarium in Acta Apostolorum (Antwerp: Joannes Grapheus for Joannes Steelsius, 1542), with: In sanctum Jesu Christi evangelium secundum Joannem commentarii, diligenter ab Arrianorum faecibus purgati (Antwerp: Joannes Steelsius, 1542), with: Passio domini nostri Jesu Christi secundum Matthaeum in decem homilias divisa (Antwerp: Joannes Grapheus for Joannes Steelsius, 1542) [the set may have originally had a third volume: St Johannes Chrysostomus, Commentarii, qui extant in sacrosanctum Jesu Christi evangelium secundum Marcum & Lucam (Antwerp: Joannes Meranus for Joannes Steelsius, 1542)]

provenance
● unidentified owner, inscription “Joannes Baptista Merchandonius” in red ink on title-pages (16C)
● [volumes separated: (a) ● Robert Redman Belshaw (d. 1913), of Dublin, exlibris ● Linen Hall Library, Belfast, exlibris (Bequest of R.R. Belshaw, Esq., Dublin, Feb. 1913), pressure stamp. (b) ● unidentified owner(s), inscription, shelf number on endleaf [Maggs: “German(?)”] ● exlibris, removed from front pastedown, inscription cut from foot of title-page (patched)
● [volumes reunited] Maggs Bros, London; their Catalogue 1142: Fine books & manuscripts (London 1992), item 10 (£4500; “3 vols. bound in two … contemporary Bolognese binding of black goatskin, blocked in blind with a large scalloped block of arabesque leafy scrolls, a blind arabesque tool in the corners and a gilt stamp of Saint John the Baptist as a child in the centre of each cover, the personal impresa of the original owner Giovanni Battista Merchandoni da Sabbiano … recently surfaced in a private library when the two volumes were reunited”)
● T. Kimball Brooker [Bibliotheca Brookeriana #2125; to be sold by Sotheby’s in 2024-2025]

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, pp.179, 175 [as decorated also by the stamp of “St John the Baptist” seen on Bologna, Archivio di Stato, Demaniale 89/917]
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-A/3) Girolamo Malipiero, Il Petrarca spirituale, nouamente ristampato, et dall'auttore con nuoua additione reconosciuto (Venice: [anonymous press], January 1545)

provenance
● Giacomo Manzoni (1816-1889)
● Jörg Schafer, Zurich; their Catalogue 32: A Selection of fine books arranged under subject headings (Zurich [1987?]), item 55 (“contemporary Bolognese brown morocco, both sides stamped (with remains of simili-gilding [sic]) with a large oval plaque of an intricate arabesque design, similar edge ornaments added, the central looped octagonal medallion adorned, on the front cover, with gilt stamps of Christ on the Cross, and on the back cover, a gilt stamp of the Madonna with Child on a Crescent; back with five raised bands … The large arabesque plaque is reproduced by De Marinis from another binding on pl.[239], and the same plaque occurs on a binding for a Petrarca edition formerly owned by Fürstenberg (De Marinis, Die italienischen Renaissance-Einbände d. Bibliothek Fürstenberg, 1966, p.106).”)

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, pp.174-175 (“With the ‘Pflug and Ebeleben Binder’s’ familiar tools of the Crucifixion and Madonna and Child”)
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-A/4) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello e con piu vtili cose in diuersi luoghi di quella nouissimamente da lui aggiunte (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, February 1528)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros, motto “Con speme in fuoco” (upper cover) and “Lo mio cvor nutrisco” (lower cover)
● Jean Fürstenberg (1890-1982)
● Ader Picard Tajan & Claude Guérin with Dominique Courvoisier, Incunables et livres anciens provenant de la Fondation Furstenberg-Beaumesnil, Paris, 16 November 1983, lot 150 (“Reliure vénitienne ornée d’une plaque, reproduite par de Marinis (II, 1349, pl. 239). Dans le cartouche central, l’inscription: Con speme in fuoco lo mio cuor, nutrisco … mot qui, recoupé avec la dédicace au verso du titre, laisse à penser que ce livre fut offert en cadeau à une personne aimée.”)

literature
De Marinis, op. cit. 1966, pp.106-107 (“Maroquin brun, impression d’une plaque dorée, la même qu’on voit sur un autre Petrarca de 1532 et sur un Serafino Aquilano de 1534 (De Marinis, II, nos. 1349 et 1352 et planche CCXXXIX”)
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.174
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-A/5) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello e con piu vtili cose in diuersi luoghi di quella nouissimamente da lui aggiunte (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, February 1528)

provenance
● Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919)
● Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge, Catalogue of a further portion of the valuable library collected by the late Charles Fairfax Murray, Esq., of London and Florence, London, 17-20 July 1922, lot 787 (“contemporary Italian binding, dark brown morocco tooled in blind, outer border enclosing a panel containing a large arabesque ornament lettered in gold in centre ‘Petrarcha Dil Vellutel.’ in the centre of the lower cover a gilt figure of Cupid shooting his bow, back defective and mended, in padded case” [link]) [RBH Jul171922-787]
● Maggs Bros, London - bought in sale (£4 15s)
● Maggs Bros, London; their Catalogue 489: Book bindings: Historical & decorative (London 1927), item 242 (£7 10s; “Bound in a contemporary Italian dark brown morocco, beautifully tooled in blind, the outer border enclosing a panel", containing a large arabesque ornament, lettered in gold in centre ‘Petrarcha Dil Vellutel’; in the centre of the lower cover is a charming figure of Cupid shooting his bow. (Back repaired)” [link]); Catalogue 437: Books on art and allied subjects (London 1923), item 400 [link]; Catalogue 489: Book bindings: Historical & decorative (London 1927), item 242 [link]

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.174 (“with the ‘Ulrich Fugger’s Bible Binder’s’ arrow-shooting Cupid”)
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-A/6) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello e con piu vtili cose in diuersi luoghi di quella nouissimamente da lui aggiunte (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, November 1532)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros, name “Do / Ratea / Capra / Ra” (lower cover)
● Filippo Antonio Cristiani (fl. 1788), inscription, “Dell’arciprete Filippo Ant. Cristiani” [opac]
● Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), exlibris “From The Library of Ch. Fairfax Murray” [opac]
● Maggs Bros, London; their Catalogue 385: Rare books, historic & decorative bookbindings, & illuminated manuscripts (London 1919), item 4968 (“Original Italian white calf binding, with elaborate geometrical design on sides in blind, and the name ‘Doratea Caprara,’ the lady for whom the book was bound. From the Ch. Fairfax Murray Library”); Catalogue 395: Manuscripts, incunables, woodcut books and books from early presses (London 1920), item 1124 [link]; Catalogue 407: Book bindings: historical and decorative (London 1921), item 408 [link]
● Tammaro De Marinis (1878-1969)
● Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Stamp.De.Marinis.113 (opac “Legatura in pergamena. Piatti decorati con motivi orientali a secco. Nello specchio, due incisioni ‘Francesco Petrarca’ e ‘Doratea Caprara’. Dorso a 7 nervi con piccoli motivi floreali a secco. Taglio goffrato” [link])

literature
De Marinis, op. cit. 1960, no. 1349 & Pl. 239
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.175
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-A/7) Theocritus, [Idyllia] Tade enestin, ente garou se biblo. Theokritou eidyllia, ex kai triakonta (Rome: Cornelio Benigno & Zaccaria Calliergi, 1516)

provenance
● unidentified owner, inscription “Ricardo” on title-page
● Viscount Mersey, Bignor Park, ex-libris with acquisition date “London, 28 April 1859”
● Fiammetta Soave, Rome; their Di libri soliti e insoliti (Rome [2000?]), item 7
● Wolfgang J. Kaiser, Frankfurt am Main; their Catalogue 16: Das schöne Buch: The Book beautiful, IV: Antike - Moderne 1495-1995 (Frankfurt am Main 1997), item 8 (“contemporary Roman light brown morocco binding with profusely blindstamped plaque on covers, the author's name in Greek in center of upper and a bust portrait (of the poet?) with laurel facing right on lower cover”)
● Forum Auctions, Fine Books, Western Manuscripts & Works on Paper, London, 25th January 2017, lot 28 (“fine contemporary Bolognese binding of hazel morocco, traces of original gilding, covers framed within fillets and stamped with elaborate plaque composed of interlacing ribbons, author's name stamped in Greek at centre of upper cover, lower cover with central medallion with Theocritus' head in profile”)
● unidentified owner - bought in sale (£6000) [link]

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.174
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30

(II-A/8) Giovanni Maria Verrati, Disputationes aduersus Lutheranos per proloquia seu pronunciata caeteris eorum articuli opposita (Bologna: Giovanni Battista Faelli, 11 February 1538)

provenance
● Bologna, Biblioteca comunale dell’Archiginnasio, 16.Q.IV.66

literature
De Marinis, op. cit., no. 1355
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.175
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30
Federico Macchi, Legature storiche dell’Archiginnasio (“Cuoio bruno su cartone decorato a secco e in oro. Decoro realizzato a placca (150x90 mm) dai motivi di foggia orientaleggiante. Nella cartella centrale la scritta in caratteri capitali ver / rati / opvs entro coppia di corolle stilizzate affrontate al piatto anteriore, in / luthera / nos a quello posteriore. Scompartimenti del dorso provvisti di due filetti incrociati. Capitelli muniti di anima circolare avvolta da fili in canapa. Cucitura su tre nervi alternati a quattro apparenti. Indorsatura realizzata mediante alette orizzontali cartacee rinnovate. Rimbocchi rifilati con cura; risvolti laterali quelli di testa e di piede. Carte di guardia bianche coeve. Tagli rustici.” [link, link])

(II-A/9) Luigi Alamanni, Opere toscane di Luigi Alamanni al christianissimo re Francesco primo (Venice: Heirs of Lucantonio Giunta, 1542)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

provenance
● Giovanni Battista Baldelli (1766-1831), sale in 1804 to
● Gian Giacomo Trivulzio (1774-1831)
● Milan, Biblioteca Trivulziana, Triv. L 1613

literature
Federico Macchi, Legature storiche nella biblioteca “A. Mai” (“La Biblioteche Trivulziana di Milano e Universitaria di Pavia, possiedono rispettivamente un inedito esemplare di questo genere (Milano, Trivulziana: Opere toscane di Luigi Alamanni, Venetiis, apud haeredes Lucae Antonii Juntae, MDXLII, segnatura Triv. L 1613; Pavia, Universitaria: Fondo Fraccaro, segnatura 68 H 14)” [link])
Paolo Pedretti, “La vendita della biblioteca di Giovanni Battista Baldelli Boni a Gian Giacomo Trivulzio” in Libri & Documenti 39 (2013-2014), pp.151-178 (p.159: Catalogo di vendita, no. 4)


(II-A/10) Marcus Tullius Cicero, M. T. Ciceronis Orationum volumen primum (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, 1519)

provenance
● Liechtensteinsche Fideikommißbibliothek, Vienna
● Edward Van Dyke Wight, Jr (1897?-1970) [lots 416-463 in sale below are “A collection of books in fine bindings mostly from the Liechtenstein collection The Property of E.V.D. Wight, Jr”]
● Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of valuable printed books, London, 4-6 April 1955, lot 417 (“contemporary Venetian black morocco, the sides stamped with a large plaque in blind, the title ‘M.T.C. I’ tooled in gilt on the upper cover, and a gilt bust-portrait of Cicero on the lower, the Liechtenstein copy”) [RBH Pilchard-417]
● Bernard Quaritch, London - bought in sale (£30)
● Henry Davis (1897-1977)
● London, British Library, Henry Davis Gift 741

literature
Mirjam Foot, The Henry Davis Gift: A Collection of bookbindings, Volume 3: A Catalogue of South-European bindings (London 2010), no. 270


(II-A/11) Dante Alighieri, Comedia di Danthe Alighieri poeta diuino: con l'espositione di Christophoro Landino: nuouamente impressa: e con somma diligentia reuista et emendata: et di nuouissime postille adornata (Venice: Giacomo Pocatella (Iacob del Burgo franco) for Lucantonio Giunta, 23 January 1529)

Image

provenance
● Ellis & Elvey, London
● Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge, Catalogue of the choice stock of rare books, illuminated and other manuscripts, autograph letters, etc. etc. formed by the late Mr. Gilbert I. Ellis of 29, New Bond Street, London, 28 October-4 November 1902, lot 790 [link]
● J. & J. Leighton, London - bought in sale (£25 10s); their Catalogue of early printed and other interesting books, manuscripts, and fine bindings (London [1905]), item 2065 (“in its original Venetian binding of white calfskin, the sides beautifully tooled with a large arabesque cartouche in centre, containing a figure of Cupid, and surrounded by a floral border and dragons heads, all in black in the Venetian style”)

literature
Howard Nixon, Broxbourne Library: styles and designs of bookbindings, from the 12th to the 20th century (London 1956), p.68 [compared with no. 32: Girolamo Muzio, Discorso intorno alle controuersie, che hora si trattano nella Chiesa di Dio, Milan 1548, also bound in whte calf, its central panels blocked in gilt with different arabesque designs]


(II-A/12) Sperone Sperone, I dialogi di messer Speron Sperone (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio, 1542)

provenance
● Arenberg Auctions, Boeken & prenten - Livres & estampes - Books & prints, Brussels, 14-15 December 2018, lot 750 (“pastiche binding: brown leather, covers entirely blind decorated with a large flower tool and sm. ones in the corners, central cartouches with gilt title and date "1142" (sic), spine with raised bands, brown edges.”) [RBH 121418-750]
● unidentified owner - bought in sale (€375)
● Arenberg Auctions, Collectables, Brussels, 17 July 2022, lot 99 [RBH 71722-99]
● unidentified owner – bought in sale (€416)
● Libreria Antiquaria Dentis, Turin ([link], images, [link])


(II-A/13) Theophylactus de Achrida, In omnes D. Pauli epistolas enarrationes, diligenter recognitae. Christophoro porsena interprete (Cologne: Eucharius Cervicornus for Gottfried Hittorp, 1532)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

provenance
● Riccardo Bruscoli, Florence [De Marinis]
● Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of fine bindings and valuable printed books, London, 28 February 1966, lot 84 (“blank portion cut from foot of title, the printer’s name erased causing a hole in the leaf, contemporary Venetian brown morocco, stamped with a shaped oval plaque in blind, with leaf and tendril decoration, the title in gilt in the centre of the covers In / Pauli (upper cover), Epist / olas (lower cover), small corner pieces in blind, ties missing, lower joints and foot of spine a little worn”) [RBH Tunis-84]
● Francis Edwards, London - bought in sale
● Milan, private collection [Macchi]

literature
De Marinis, op. cit. 1960, no. 3059
Federico & Livio Macchi, Atlante della legatura italiana: Il Rinascimento (XV-XVI secolo) (Milan 2007), pp.40-41 Tav. 9 (“Legatura bolognese a placca; prima metà del secolo XI. Marocchino marone scuro; piatti ornati con una grande placca polilobata, ad arabeschi, impressi a secco”, lettered “In Pauli” on upper cover, “Epistolas” on lower cover; “Una delle numerose placche ad arabeschi, in rilievo, eseguite a Bologna dal secondo quarto del XVI secolo in poi. … No è da escludere che queste placche siano state realizzate tramite fusione e non mediante incisione, per cui esemplari identici potrebbero essere stati in possesso di botteghe diverse”, “Milano, collezione privata”)


(II-A/14) Marco Girolamo Vida, Marci Hieronymi Vidae Cremonensis Albae episcopi Christiados libri sex (Cremona: Lodovico Britannico, October 1535)

Image courtesy of Federico Macchi

provenance
● Antonio Ghislieri (1504-1572; from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, from 1566 Pope Pius V),
● Giuseppe Sigismondo Ala-Ponzone (1761-1842), exlibris “Museo Ala-Ponzone in Cremona, Collezione Ala-Ponzone, 610”
● Cremona, Biblioteca statale di Cremona, Bb.2.1

literature
Federico Macchi, Le legature antiche della Biblioteca Statale di Cremona. Catalogo 2. secoli XV - XVI (Cremona 2024), pp.126-127 no. 130 (“Legatura del secondo quarto del secolo XVI, eseguita a Bologna dal ‘legatore della Bibbia di Ulrich Fugger’”)

type b

(II-B/1) Serafino Aquilano, Seraphino. Opere dello elegantissimo poeta Seraphino Aquilano con molte cose aggionte di nouo (Venice: Francesco Bindoni & Maffeo Pasini, December 1534)

provenance
● Jacopo Bartolomeo Beccari (1682-1766), inscription “Ex legato Jacobi Bartolomaei Beccarii anno 1766” [opac]
● Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, Raro B. 15 (opac, [link])

literature
De Marinis, no. 1352 & Pl. 239
Hobson, op. cit. 1998 , p.174 ([the 1532 Petrarca and 1534 Serafino] “both with the same Cupid”)
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30 & no. 47 (“Pergamena bianca su cartone. Placca dorata. Ornamento in ogni angolo e Cupido bendato in piedi su una sfera tra frecce intrecciate nel centro.”)
Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna, Catalogo online delle legature storiche (“Cuoio di vitello avoriato su quadranti in cartone decorato in oro. Cornice costituita da fascio di filetti a delimitare l’ornamento di gusto orientaleggiante realizzato a placca; al centro Cupido bendato su di una sfera tra due coppie di frecce incrociate.” [link])


(II-B/2) Jacopo Sannazzaro, Sonetti, e canzoni di m. Iacobo Sannazaro gentilhvomo napolitano (Rome: Antonio Blado, 1530), bound with Ercole Bentivoglio, Il sogno amoroso, e l’Egloge di Hercole Bentiuogli (Venice: Francesco Bindoni & Maffeo Pasini, July 1530)

Images courtesy of Federico Macchi

provenance
● Marcantonio Totila (fl. 1527-1550), supralibros, lettered ma | rco | antonio | toti | la on lower cover
● Abate Michele Colombo (1747-1838)
● presumably Giovanni Bonaventura Porta, purchaser in 1818 of his library; his widow, Sofia Bulgarini Porta, sale in 1843 to
● Biblioteca Palatina, inventario 143 (Catalogo Alvisi, q.v. Bentivoglio [link])
● Parma, Biblioteca Palatina, GG. II.292 (opac “All'inizio e alla fine del volume 2 carte + 2 carte con note manoscritte di Michele Colombo” [link])


(II-B/3) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello e con piu vtili cose in diuersi luoghi di quella nouissimamente da lui aggiunte (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, November 1532)

provenance
● Venice, Fondazione Giorgio Cini, FOAN TES 1005 (opac [link])

literature
Gabriele Mazzucco & Orfea Granzotto, Mostra di legature antiche. Dalle Raccolte della Fondazione Cini (Venice 1999), no. 20 (“Legatura bolognese coeva. Coperta in cuoio color testa di moro, quadranti in cartone, rimbocchi ugnati agli angoli; residui di quattro coppie di lacci, tagli dorati e cesellati. Capitelli a mano già di fili colorati, cucitura su tre nervi doppi. Decorazione impressa a secco e in oro di una grande placca ed altre tre ferri, di cui uno raffigurante putto alato saettante, lungo i bordi fletti. Dimensioni della legatura mm 160x105x25”)

type c

(II-C/1) Leonardo Bruni, Aquila volante. Libro intitolato Aquila volante: di latino nella volgar lingua dal magnifico Leonardo Aretino, tradotto (Venice: Melchiorre Sessa, [1537?]), bound with: Albertus Magnus, Dele virtu de le herbe, animali, & pietre preciose, & di molte marauegliose cose del mondo (Venice: [printer not named], 1537)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros (name d ant g lettered on lower cover), gift (?) to an unidentified owner, supralibros, whose name presumably is hidden in the initials p p p a l p m b e t lettered on upper cover
● Jean Ballesdens (1595-1675), inscriptions on title-pages
● Earl of Galloway, exlibris (18C)
● Maggs Bros, Catalogue 324: Historic and artistic bookbindings (London 1914), item 16 (illustrated; “contemporary Venetian binding of calf, the sides most elaborately tooled in gold to a Grolieresque geo-metrical pattern of interlaced bands and arabesques, the centre of front cover having in gold the letters P. P. P. AL. P. M. B. ET. and on back cover D. ANT. G. gilt back and gilt gauffred edges”) [RBH 324-16]; Catalogue 380: Manuscripts, early printed books (London 1919), item 2206 [RBH 380-2206]; Catalogue 385: Rare books, historic & decorative bindings, & illuminated manuscripts (London 1919), item 4700 [RBH 385-4700]; Catalogue 395: Manuscripts, incunables, woodcut books and books from early presses (London 1920), item 1066 [link]
● Sotheby Wilkinson & Hodge, Catalogue of valuable printed books, London, 18-20 April 1921, lot 599 (“contemporary Venetian binding of calf, the sides elaborately tooled in gold to a Grolieresque geometrical pattern of interlaced bands and arabesques, the centre of front cover having in gold the letters P.P.P. / AL.P. M. / B.E.T. / and on back cover D. / Ant / G.”)
● Lamont - bought in sale (£24)
● Ernst Kyriss (1881-1974) [Breslauer]
● Martin Breslauer Inc., New York; their Catalogue 104: Fine books in fine bindings from the fourteenth to the present century (London 1979), item 20 ($1850; “two different plaques were employed, varying in minute detail from each other. The one on the lower cover is reproduced on Plate XXXVII (b) of Part I of the Landau sale catalogue, Sotheby’s, 1948; this was partly painted in enamel, and rather worn”)
● Sotheby’s, Continental books and manuscripts, London, 7 December 2000, lot 23 (“contemporary Bolognese plaque binding, brown morocco gilt, sides decorated with large plaques of arabesque design, upper cover lettered in central cartouche P.P.P./.A L.P.M/.B.E T., the lower cover lettered .D./ANT./.G., 3 raised bands on spine, title lettered in the second compartment, the others retooled to a late seventeenth-century design for Jean Ballesdens, edges gilt and gauffered, 3 lines of Italian in a sixteenth-century hand on verso of final leaf, a few leaves in the Bruni misbound, some light staining, joints and corners carefully repaired, lacking 4 pairs of ties”; “Plaques for use in gilt on bindings were particularly popular with Bolognese binders in the second quarter of the sixteenth century. The present one, which occurs also on a 1532 Petrarch (sale in our rooms, 13 July 1948, lot 89), is a reduced version of a plaque used, for instance, on a copy of Serafino Aquilano’s Opere, Venice, 1534, in Bologna University Library (A.R.A. Hobson and L. Quaquarelli, Legature bolognesi del rinascimento, Bologna, 1998, no. 47) … the plaque on the lower cover is reproduced in the Landau sale I, in our rooms, 1948, pl. XXXVIII(b)”) [RBH L00210-23]

literature
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.175
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30


(II-C/2) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha con l’espositione d’Alessandro Vellutello e con piu vtili cose in diuersi luoghi di quella nouissimamente da lui aggiunte (Venice: Bernardino Vitali, November 1532)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros (initials lettered on lower cover)
● Horace, Baron de Landau (1824-1903)
● Eugénie (Jenny, née Ellenberger) Finaly (1850-1938)
● Sotheby & Co., Catalogue of very important illuminated manuscripts and printed books, selected from the renowned library formed by Baron Horace de Landau (1824-1903), maintained and augmented by his niece Madame Finaly, of Florence (d. 1938), London, 12-13 July 1948, lot 89 (“brown calf elaborately gilt and painted (? Roman, circa 1560), having in the centre of the upper cover the original owner’s name (?) “LEO FANT. V. M.” and on the lower a figure of Cupid, blindfold, as Fortune, with bow, standing on a sphere and surrounded by stars, original back with alternate large and small bands, remains of four ties, edges gilt and gauffered”) [RBH PALM-89]
● G.A. Volkhorst - bought in sale (£80)

literature
Mostra storica della legatura artistica in Palazzo Pitti (Florence 1922), no. 315 (“Mar. rosso scuro; piatti riccamente ornati a mosaico di cera a colorii bianco rosso e verde. Al centro del piatto anteriore l’iscrizione Deo.a | Fant.a | V. M.; in quello posteriore un amore bendato saettante stante su un globo e circondato da un’aureola di stelle. Dorso impresso a freddo; taglio inciso e dorato. (Signora H. Finaly, Firenze”) [link])
Hobson, op. cit. 1998, p.174
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.30

type d

(II-D/1) [alleged remboîtage] Titus Livius, Titi Liuii Patauini Decas quarta. (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Andrea Torresano, November 1520), with Titus Livius, Titi Liuii Patauini Decadis quintae libri quinque (Venice: Heirs of Aldo Manuzio & Heirs of Andrea Torresano, May 1533)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros, initials d s lettered on covers
● Bergamo, Biblioteca Civica Angelo Mai, Cinq. 3 187-188

literature
Federico Macchi, Legature storiche nella biblioteca “A. Mai" [link]

type e

(II-E/1) Francesco Petrarca, Il Petrarcha (Toscolano: Alessandro Paganini, [ca 1515-1520])

provenance
● Giovanni Antonio Morando, inscription “1547 Jo: Antonius Morandus” [presumably the Venetian publisher for whom Comin da Trino printed Dante con nuove et utilissime annotationi in 1554]
● Giacomo Paselli, inscription “1558 Hic liber est mei Jacobi de pasellis et amicorum” [Hobson & Quaquarelli]
● Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, A.V.HH.XIII.13

literature
Hobson & Quaquarelli, op. cit. 1998, p.100 no. 48 (lower cover illustrated)
Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna, Catalogo online delle legature storiche (“Cuoio di capra bruno su quadranti in cartone decorato a secco e in oro. Cornice a filetto. Placca (150x80 mm) di foggia orientaleggiante; putto alato con arco e freccia. Due filetti incrociati negli scompartimenti del dorso.” [link, link])


(II-E/2) Officium sancti Petronii, sancti Dominici & sanctae Mariae Magdalenae (Bologna: Giovanni Battista Faelli, August 1530)

provenance
● unidentified owner, supralibros, lettering di castelan on lower cover
● Bologna, Biblioteca Universitaria, A.M.DD.I.83

literature
Biblioteca Universitaria di Bologna, Catalogo online delle legature storiche (“Cuoio di capra bruno su assi lignee decorato a secco e in oro. Filetti concentrici parzialmente raccordati agli angoli. Coppie di cornici caratterizzate da foglie d’edera, pure presenti lungo i margini interni dello specchio, e da arabeschi. Ornamento a placca (150x85 mm) di foggia orientaleggiante; iscrizioni in caratteri capitali parzialmente scomparse al centro.” [link, link])