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The binding shown above is found in the online digital collection of BIBLIOTHEQUE SAINTE-GENEVIEVE (12th -18th CENTURIES).This database is devoted to the description and the reproduction of blind-tooled bookbindings in the collections of the Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève. I have chosen this binding as the second from the Atelier "I B" for a number of reasons, this roll is commonly found on bindings from this workshop and almost always found with the twisted pineapple roll, although here on such a small binding there is hardly enough room for anything else. We know from the BSG data that this binding has to be later than 1515, and perhaps was made for someone with the initials F B. From out previous studies we know that this roll matches very closely the original panel from which it was copied. I speculate that it may be the very first of this sort however I have no proof. Many rolls of this type appeared in this period however none match so closely the original panel that can be found decorating books of hours from at least a decade earlier. (See this page for more details) |
| In Comparative Diagram 2, I show Denise Gid plate 85 inverted and with dates added. Gid did not indicate dates for her catalogued roulettes. I have done so, however the dates should be considered as speculative at best. They are based on the printing dates of the books inside the bindings on which they are found, in some cases I have omitted questionable dates. This serves as a rough guide to when these roulettes were popular. There are at least 6 similar plates of these Reanaissance continue roulettes and really this is just the tip of the iceburg for this type which evolved into yet different types. |
| Below you will find a partial inventory of the Gid Plates with dates added. Each is shown here in a reduced size that is linked to enlargements. The actual illustrations have been inverted from black on white to while on black to allow a better view of the detail that is visually more like what we actually encounter on the bookbindings. We start here at Plate 81, to give some idea of the range of the Renaissance continu roulettes, and end at Plate 98, the last plate in the catalogue, a monumental work of enormous research potential. |
| click on this link to see the next page: Atelier I B example 3 |
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