American Decorated Paper since the Colonial Era
Decorated papers have played a vital role in bookbinding and the decorative arts for centuries. Commercially available American papers were rare before the 1970s, as the decorated paper artists, like most in this exhibition, were not yet working professionally. This case shows examples of decorated papers, books, and trade materials available to American bookbinders, artists, and designers by the 1960s.
Three marbled papers, ca. 1970–1980.
These three papers are typical of the international marbled papers available to American consumers by the 1970s. They are part of a collection of fifty-nine papers acquired from the bindery of Mark Tomsett, established in 1960 in New York City. Left to right: French, Swedish, English (Cockerell & Son) marbled papers.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Lord George Lyttleton. Observations on the conversion and apostleship of St. Paul […]. Boston: Munroe and Francis, 1812.
The marbled paper on the covers of this book has been made on printer’s waste. According to Sidney E. Berger, the paper could have been made by the Mann family of Deadham, Massachusetts. The Manns, who were active for most of the 19th century, were a large and prolific family of printers and publishers of books, music, newspapers, playin cards, and related materials.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Purchase, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
M. Fichtenberg. Nouveau Manuel Complet du Fabricant de Papiers de Fantaisie, […]. Paris: Roret, 1852.
Fichtenberg’s New and Complete Manual on the Making of Fancy Papers has been an essential manual for modern marblers specializing in early patterns. It documents the innovations in French marbling technique and provides details on processes and the preparation of colors and instructions for making equipment. Plate 2 (seen here) illustrates eight patterns.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Josef Halfer. Die Fortschritte der Marmorierkunst: Ein Praktisches Handbuch für Buchbinder und Buntpapierfabrikanten. Stuttgart, Germany: Wilhelm Leo, 1891.
Josef Halfer practiced marbling at a time when it was being replaced by mechanically produced substitutes. His innovative applications of scientific advances resolved earlier marbling problems, resulting in an efflorescence of new patterns and a revival of interest in the craft. Halfer’s manual was influential on Polly Fox, who published a facsimile of the 2nd edition in 1989. Shown here is a marbling device and Plate 1, Probieren der Farben (Showing the Colors).
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Charles W. Woolnough. The Whole Art of Marbling as Applied to Paper, Bookedges, etc. […] London: G. Bell, 1881.
Perhaps the most important book on British marbling, The Whole Art of Marbling provides an account of the methods and materials of the craft. It provides instructions for making thirty traditional and contemporary patterns, as well as how to use the completed marbled papers in home decoration and how to marble on cloth. Shown here are the progressive stages of the Italian pattern.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Thomas J. Watson Library
Bindery Talk. New York, Chicago, St. Louis: Gane Brothers & Company, November 1913.
This advertisement illustrates a roller tool for efficiently marbling the edges of books in two patterns: comb and spot effects. Bindery Talk was the trade journal of the prominent bookbinding and binding supply company, Gane Brothers & Company, established in 1846. The company still exists today under the ownership of Library Binding Services.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library Gift
Sydney M. Cockerell. Bookbinding as a School Subject. Marbling Paper, 2nd ed. Hitchen, England: G.W. Russell and Son Limited, undated.
Sydney Morris Cockerell (1906–1987) was a British bookbinder and conservator who took over his father’s firm, Douglas Cockerell & Son, in 1935. There he perfected the art of making marbled paper using traditional materials. Cockerell’s popular papers were widely distributed in the United States during the 1960s and 1970s. Marbler William Chapman created the specimen shown in this pamphlet.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of Mary Schlosser
August Gottlieb Spangenberg. Kurzgefaßte Historische Nachricht von der Gegenwärtigen Verfassung der Evangelischen Brüderunität Augspurgischer Confession [two copies]. Barby, Germany: Christian Friedrich Laux, 1781.
American decorated papers were rare in the 18th century; however, the paste papers created by the Moravian community founded in Pennsylvania around 1740 are an exception. Settlers brought the craft with them from Hernnhut in Saxony, Germany, the center of the Moravian Church, where paste papers were traditionally used to bind religious tracts. These examples could have been produced in Germany or Pennsylvania. Both papers are decorated with brushwork and stamping.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Moravian Archives, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Rosamond B. Loring. Marbled Papers. An Address Delivered Before the Members of the Club of Odd Volumes, November 16, 1932. Boston: Club of Odd Volumes, 1933.
Rosamond B. Loring (1889-1950), whose paste papers cover this book, was a maker, collector, and historian of decorated paper, as well as a hand bookbinder. From 1936 through 1949, Loring worked as the librarian for the Club of Odd Volumes in Boston. This book, published in 149 copies, led to the creation of her landmark treatise, Marbled Paper, its History, Techniques and Patterns, first published in 1942.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Jacob S. Rogers Fund
Rosamond B. Loring. Decorated Book Papers: Being an Account of Their Designs and Fashions. Cambridge, MA: Department of Printing and Graphic Arts, Harvard College Library, 1942.
This is an example of modern American printed paste paper made by Loring’s protégé, Veronica Ruzicka (1917-1981). Loring and Ruzicka both made the original paper samples in this book, an edition of 250 copies. Subsequent editions were issued in 1952, 1973, and 2007. Loring’s collection of decorated papers is in the Houghton Library at Harvard University. Ruzicka later made papers under the name Proteus Papers.
Thomas J. Watson Library, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of Jane E. Andrews in memory of her husband William Loring Andrews
Nancy Storm. Three leaves from a portfolio from Paste Papers by N. M. Storm. Ann Arbor, MI: Nancy Storm, ca. 1950s.
Nancy Storm was a hand bookbinder, educator, and decorated paper artist. This portfolio of paste papers includes ordering instructions and samples for sixteen patterns representing a line of 19˝× 25˝ sheets. Shown here (left to right), are the ordering details, the title plate, and pattern 7-j, a dotted circle pattern.
Thomas J. Watson Library, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Gift of the Friends of the Thomas J. Watson Library, 2019