FRENCH SCHOOL (19th century)
Bronze Bookbinding Stamp with the Arms of King Charles X (Imprimerie Royale)
1824–1830
Paris, France
Engraved bronze matrix mounted on an original turned wooden handle, used for impressing the royal arms on leather bindings
89 mm (3 1/2 in.) in length
£1,650
Since its foundation in 1640, the Imprimerie Royale maintained a tradition of binding presentation copies of royal publications in fine morocco, tooled with the reigning monarch’s arms. Under Charles X, this practice continued with bindings recorded in 1828 bearing his distinctive supralibros (see OHR 2498, no. 4). The present tool is representative of those used by the court’s professional finishers, applying the monarch’s arms centrally on large-format morocco bindings destined for royal libraries, diplomatic gifts, and prestigious state commissions.
Comparisons:
• National Library of Russia, Livre de poste… pour l’an 1828 (Paris, Imprimerie Royale, 1828), red morocco with the arms of Charles X (OHR pl. 2498, no. 4): https://expositions.nlr.ru/eng/ex_ofo/king_bindings/CharlesX_t.php
• Sotheby’s, Livres et Manuscrits, 15 December 2020, Lot 6: armorial morocco binding of Traitté des droits de la Reyne très-chrestienne (Paris, 1667): https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2020/livres-et-manuscrits/traitte-des-droits-de-la-reyne-tres-chrestienne
• Le Bibliomane Moderne, “Quelques in-folio aux armes de Louis XIV” (2021), discussion of royal supralibros and Imprimerie Royale armorial stamps: https://le-bibliomane.blogspot.com/2021/09/quelques-in-folio-aux-armes-de-louis.html
• National Library of Russia, Publications of the Royal Printing Works: overview of the Imprimerie Royale’s role and armorial bindings from Louis XIV to Charles X: https://expositions.nlr.ru/eng/ex_ofo/king_bindings/king_typography.php
shipping notice
Worldwide shipping is included in all prices.
The Limner Company does not accept any responsibility for import duty, this is to be paid by the buyer.
Some stock items contain materials from endangered species which are governed by CITES regulations and will require a permit to export outside of Great Britain. If a certificate of export is required then this will be the responsibility of and paid for by the buyer .
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