| Image copyright © The British Library Board |
| Cover Material |
Goatskin (includes morocco, turkey etc) |
| BookBinder |
Simier, Alphonse of Paris |
| Title |
Office de la Quinzaine de Paques suivant le nouveau breviaire de Paris et Rome
Paris, chez Louis Janet |
| Notes |
With decorative metalwork in the form of clasp, and cornerpieces. With the initials P L on the cover possibly the cypher of Louis-Philippe.
Macchi states;Simier workshop comprises: 1) René: he is not mentioned in the 1797-1798 Almanac. Tradition states that he left the army about 1798 and the 1847 Almanch refers to him founding his workshop in 1800. Between 1809-1812 he was "Binder to the Empress Marie Louise." In 1826 "Simier Père et Fils" are listed in the Almanach as "Binders to the King", Madame and the Duc de Bordeaux". Simier appeared in the directories from 1809-1826, when the entry became "Père et Fils". He received a Medal of Honour in 1819. His first address in 1809 was Neuve-des Bons-Enfants 35. From 1814 he moved to St. Honoré 152. H. Béraldi however (Les reliures, I, p. 35) gives his address in 1810 as Passage Radziwill, which leads out of Neuve-des-Bons-Enfants to rue Valois; 2) Alphonse, fils: he appears on his own in 1821 at Bertin Poirée 6 in the 1821 Almanach and then in 1826 appears with his father at rue St. Honoré 152 where he carried on the business under the family name after his father's death (C. Ramsden, French bookbinders, p. 190); 3) Jean (?): this binder who appears in the 1847-1849 Almanachs is reputed to be a nephew of the elder Simier. An identical example is kept in Bruxelles, Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Relieurs et reliures, 1995, p. 129, n. 56. |