Until the nineteenth century, bookbinders seldom identified themselves on their bindings. In several instances in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the name of the binder appears as part of the stamping. From that period a binder's name shows up in a small schriftband tool used in blind stamping. There are a number of examples of panel-stamped bindings where the binder's name and claim for the work are part of the panel itself. Throughout the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries, binders' names on or in the binding are very rare.
Beginning in the nineteenth century, binders began to leave some kind of identifying stamp, mark, or label in their books. Here are several examples to indicate different places to look for this feature.
Schriftband for Johannes Fogel (fl. 1455-?1460).
From a reference work on early bookbinding stamps, Ilse Schunke, Beitrage zur Incunabelkunde, Die Schwenke-Sammlung, 1979.
| Call number: | Z270.G3S96q B1.1 Die Schwenke-Sammlung |
Dutch, sixteenth century
Ludovicus Bloc, sixteenth-century panel-stamped binding. The inscription in the panel border reads: OB LAUDEM XPISTI LIBRUM HUNC RECTE LIGAVI LUDOVICUS BLOC (For the glory of Christ, I, Louis Bloc, have properly bound this book).
| Title: | Prayerbook in Dutch. |
| Locale: | Bruges, 1st quarter of 16th century |
| Location: | Manuscripts Divsion: Robert Garrett Collection |
| Call number: | Garrett Ms 63 |
| Dimensions: | 18 x 13 cm |
British, twentieth century
Katherine Adams, tooled on tail turn-in of the back board.
| Title: | Rime di diversi antichi autori toscani in dieci libri raccolte. |
| Published: | Venice: I. Antonio & fratelli da Sabio, 1532. |
| Location: | Rare Books (Ex) |
| Call number: | 3119.773 |
| Spine height: | 16 cm |
British, nineteenth century
Binder's ticket on verso of the front flyleaf.
| Author: | Spence, James, b. 1816 |
| Title: | The American union. |
| Published: | London: R. Bentley, 1861. |
| Location: | Rare Books: John Shaw Pierson Civil War Collection (W) |
| Call number: | W28.869 |
| Spine height: | 22 cm |
British, nineteenth century
Francis Bedford, tooled on tail turn-in of the front board.
| Author: | Williams, Edward, fl. 1650. |
| Title: | Virginia, more especially the south part thereof, richly and truly valued. |
| Edition: | Second edition. |
| Published: | London, Printed by T. H. for John Stephenson, 1650. |
| Location: | Rare Books (Ex) |
| Call number: | 1218.976 |
| Spine height: | 18 cm |
French, nineteenth century
'Rel[ieur] P. Bozerian,' gold-tooled on the spine.
| Author: | Plautus, Titus Maccius |
| Title: | [Works. 1472] Plautin[a]e uiginti comoedi[a]e |
| Published: | Venice: Wendelin von Speyer, 1472 |
| Location: | Rare Books: Grenville Kane Collection (ExKa) |
| Call number: | Incunabula 1472 Plautus |
A more detailed view of the previous binding.
British, nineteenth century
Roger de Coverly, ink-stamped on verso of the front flyleaf.
| Author: | Juvenal |
| Title: | Juvenal's sixteen satyrs, or, A survey of the manners and actions of mankind. |
| Published: | London: Printed for H. Moseley, 1647. |
| Location: | Rare Books (Ex) |
| Call number: | 2873.2647 |
| Spine height: | 17 cm |
British, eighteenth century
Roger Payne, in the late eighteenth century, often presented his clients with elaborate bills, pointing out the quality of his work and the justifiable expense of the binding.
| Author: | Heydon, John, b. |
| Title: | The harmony of the world. |
| Published: | London: Printed for Henry Brome, 1662 |
| Location: | Scheide Library (WHS) |
| Call number: | Scheide 12.2.15 |
| Spine height: | 16 cm |
British, eighteenth century
'1796 18th August, Rec'd the contents by me Roger Payne'