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Volume 32, Number 2, pages 289-291 (2021)
https://doi.org/10.26830/symmetry_2021_2_289
ASYMETRICAL MOTIFS IN TOOLED BOOK-BINDINGS
Paul Gailiunas*
* 25 Hedley Terrace, Gosforth, Newcastle NE3 1DP, United Kingdom
E-mail: paulgailiunas@yahoo.co.uk
Abstract: Post-medieval decoration of book-bindings and typographical ornaments both derive from Islamic models transmitted through Venice and possibly Spain. Books existed long before printing, and the first “printers’ flowers” were copied from decorative bindings, but subsequently there was just as much influence in the other direction. Asymmetrical motifs were adopted widely in printing almost from the beginning because of the technical requirements of composing designs from type. Their use in tooled bindings developed more slowly, and they were frequently used in designs in ways that are inconsistent with global symmetry.
Keywords: typography, book-binding, book decoration, printers’ flowers, fleuron, Spain, Moresque, arabesque, Venice, Rococo ornament, English Arts and Crafts Movement.
References:
Hobson, A. (1989) Humanists and Bookbinders. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 296 pp.; repr. 2012.
Meynell, F., Morison, S. (1923) Printers’ flowers and arabesques. The Fleuron, 1, 1-43; repr. in Fleuron Anthology, Ernest Benn Limited, 1973, 1-30.
Morison, S. (1967) John Fell, the University Press, and the ‘Fell’ Types. Oxford: Clarendon Press, xvi, 268 pp.; repr. Garland Publishing, 1981, 166-187.
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