Library Company of Philadelphia
To mark the end of National Poetry Month, we are sharing this lovely little publishers binding which adorns a a copy of the Philopoena, a popular gift book of poetry compiled by Rufus Griswold. The cloth cover was once a vibrant purple (mauvine), but over the decades has faded significantly.
Griswold, Rufus W. The Philopoena, or Poetry of the Affections. New York : Leavitt & Allen, 1853.
Our #publishersbindingThursday post this week features a signed binding by designer Amy Richards. (Can you find her initials AR in there?)
Binding on the 1904 Appleton edition of “My Literary Life” by Mme. Juliette Adam.
A small selection of the recently-digitized Pattison Patterned Cloth Binding Collection is now on display at 1314 Locust. Stop by and check it out! All 600+ bindings in this collection will soon be added to the 19th Century Cloth Binding Database, so stay tuned! Until then, we invite you to explore the 4000+ bindings already in the database here: http://ow.ly/g5G850xMwSX
With Thanksgiving only one week away, menu planning is officially in full swing! We doubt our table is going to look as fancy as this one (the number of glasses is particularly impressive) but at least now we know how properly fringe our celery for garnishing!
Mary Newton Henderson. Practical cooking and Dinner Giving. New York : Harper & Brothers, 1877.
The most recent addition to our ever-growing collection of papier mâché bindings, this copy of Friendship’s Token is bound in embossed leather with a painted “mâché centre.”
Papier mâché was used for decorative bindings in America only briefly, from about 1850-1855. However, we think the painted image here is of the SS Central America, also known as the Ship of Gold, which sank in 1857, dating this binding to a little later. To see more of our collection, check out our Flickr page!. To see more of our collection, check out our Flickr page!
Friendship’s Token. New York: Leavitt & Allen, n.d.
We love the delicate gilt-stamped leaves on our copy of Edward Parrish’s The Phantom Bouquet (Philadelphia, 1862). Looking for some fall crafting inspiration? This book gives step-by-step instructions for creating and decorating with skeletonized leaves, so you could have your own phantom bouquet by Halloween!
Ever wonder why you see a ton of gold-stamped cloth bindings from the 19th century, but hardly any silver? Gilt-stamping was a popular technique for decorating leather bindings, and made an easy transition to decorating cloth bindings when bookcloth first hit the American publishers’ binding scene in the 1830s.
Since aluminum-stamping was not available until the late 1870s, and was most popular through the 1880s, we see fewer examples in collections today.
Rollo in Holland. Abbott, Jacob. New York : Hurst & Co. [ca. 1880?] 10 cm x 15 cm x 2.5 cm.
It’s time for a #Feathursday edition of #PublishersBindingThursday! Published in 1850, our copy of The Book of Birds features a stunning color-blocked white cloth binding.
Browse the Library Company’s database of 19th-Century Cloth Bindings to see more!
The gilt decoration on our copy of Robert Buist’s The Family Kitchen Gardener (New York, 1847) is giving us some major garden inspiration!
#PublishersBindingThursday
Our copy of James Bean’s The Christian Minister’s Affectionate Advice to a Married Couple (New York, 1866) is bound in a gorgeous pale pink fabric with a true moiré grain. #PublishersBindingThursday