Creator
Techener, Jaques.
Title
Histoire de la bibliophilie ….
Coverage
Paris
Publisher
Librairie de J. Techener
Date
1861
Description
Charles Meunier (1865–1940) was noted for his innovative and energetic approach to binding, as well as for his prodigious output; but he was also criticized for his reliance on colorful—even gaudy—emblematic and pictorial themes. This example, which reproduces the painting “Grolier in the House of Aldus,” by François Flameng (1856–1923), incorporates all of Meunier’s impressive repertoire of binding tricks, including inlay, onlay, paint, gilding, marbling, tooling, and cuir ciselé. The result is a bit unnerving; but it is valued at the Club both as an example of particularly exuberant fin de siècle French binding, and because of its association with Samuel Putnam Avery. Avery donated the binding, as well as the painting from which it derives; it hangs in the Grolier Club lobby today.
Source
Gift of Samuel Putnam Avery, Jr., 1919.