Magpie Tidings

Binding on Alfred Lord Tennyson's The Lady of Shalott.
Manuscript on vellum, illuminated by Alberto Sangorski ~1912

I have mixed feelings about images of bindings and so don't post a lot of them. It's one area of bookcraft where seeing the work 'live' is a far superior experience in my opinion. But it is worthwhile looking through a recent exhibition from Southern Methodist University's Bridwell Library ('Highlights of the Exhibition: Six Centuries of Master BookBinding') because the images are augmented by excellent explanatory notes.



Illustrations © Steve Harrington [flash] - if you like his work, the website is a bit of a tease. Always leave the audience wanting more.


These images come from 2 fine volumes among the Sumida Maritime Materials Collection at Kobe University. (These slender books are both in the margin at that link) My guess would be the 2nd half of the 19th century. Click for much larger versions. [I've cleaned up the backgrounds somewhat]

Calleja by Manuel Picolo 1912

El Verdadero Inventor del Buque Submarino Francisco Meléndez

Click the word 'Exposición' to launch the flash browser: 'Cien Años de Ilustración Infantil Española' - 'One Hundred Years of Spanish Childrens Book Illustrations' at the Cervantes Digital Library. It's a bit of a shame that the images are only modestly sized and the digitization is lacklustre now and then, but this is a significant compilation nonetheless. Good for you if you read spanish.

'Toussaint Louverture' was born into slavery in St Domingue (Haiti) and later acquired an education, was emancipated and led a revolution in the late 18th century. He appointed himself Governor for life in 1802.


Artifacts of the Taino people from the Venezuelan Arawak civilization who migrated to the Carribean. (from a 1776 Dominican Father's publication)

Both images are from 'Common Routes: St Domingue-Louisiana', a current exhibition from the Historic New Orleans Collection with a modest online selection of maps, paintings, documents and historical commentary.

'The Pope -- doctor of theology and master of the belief' and 'The just rewards for the most diabolical Pope and his cardinals' in which The Pope is shown as a donkey with tiara and bagpipes, hanging on the gallows with his cardinals. The devils take possession of their souls.

These are the only 2 'satirical leaflets from the time of the reformation' but there are a few other interesting/odd images among the Graphic Collection at the German History Museum. [I pasted these leaflets together] Click the image for a full size version.

Illustrations (Books, magazines,CDs &c) © Ana Juan [flash].

Kyoto University Library have a display in english of 16 illustrations in both colour and black and white from Antonio Quandra's 'La piazza di San Marco in Venezia' - 'St Mark's Square, Venice' (~1830) [I pasted the 2 images together]

Andy Warhol (!) illustrations from 'The Little Red Hen'
(in: 'The Best in Children's Books') - 1958 at GlyphJockey.