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| Image copyright © The British Library Board |
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| Shelfmark |
c154a2 |
| Held By |
BL |
| Country |
France |
| Period |
19c |
| Cover Material |
Goatskin (includes morocco, turkey etc) |
| Decorative Technique |
Blocked in gold; Tooled in gold |
| Style |
Centrepiece; Frame |
| Edges |
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| BookBinder |
Meslant |
| Owner |
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| Author |
Dufrenoy, Adelaide Gillette |
| Title |
Elegies suivies de poesies diverses |
| Place of Publication |
Paris |
| Date of Publication |
1821 |
| References |
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| Notes |
Part of the Charles Ramsden Collection of Signed Bindings. See Julien Flety, Dictionnaire des reliures francais ayant exerce de 1800 a nos jours, 1988. Macchi states; XIX th first half century, Paris, bound by Meslant. His fortunes seem to have been closely attached to the Orléans family and in 1856 he styled himself as a Binder to the Queen and the Prince and Princesses. According to E. Thoinan (Biographie, p. 349) , he started at Hillerin-Bertin in 1798. His later addresses were Grenelle 102 (1803), Mathurins 20 (1826), St. Jacques 71 (1843). Lesne speaks rather slightingly of him as a cartonnier à la Bradel, but he was certainly a versatile first-class binder. Celebrated during the Empire period, Meslant used fashionable styles: fillet floral border and French Restoration panel-stamp. Illustration of his work can be found in Maggs Bros. Ltd, Catalogue 661, 307, Schiffer collection (S. de Ricci, French signed bindings, III, 238) and H. Béraldi (La reliure, V, 341). An interesting feature of some of his work is the substitution of black for gold stamping. Considerable light is thrown on his earlier activities by the entries in the sale catalogues of the Napoleoniana, forming the collection of M. Emile Brouwet, and dispersed at the Salle Drouot in November 1933 and May 1935. The description of Item 10 in the first sale refers to Meslant as "relieur au Palais"; see also Item 44 in the same catalogue, a binding made for Napoléon and Marie Louise (Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Relieurs et reliures, 1995, p. 527; J. Fléty, Dictionnaire, p. 128; C. Ramsden, French Bookbinders, p. 140). |
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