Consul Joseph Smith’s Gold-Tooled Leather Bookbindings

Abstract

• To some researchers Consul Joseph Smith's (1682-1770) favoured binding style would comprise plain white/cream parchment covers and coloured spine pieces. There are many examples in the library of George III. This tells only part of the whole story, however, as more elaborate styles exist. As a bibliophile Smith would at least want his books to be neatly bound; as a book dealer he needed them to catch the eye of purchasers, many of whom were aristocratic, wealthy and of refined taste. To the latter, the elaborately tooled binding of a rare and elegant manuscript, for example, acted as a shop window, enticing potential buyers to look within. As Smith rarely left the bindings of the books and manuscripts he discovered untouched, rebinding was key. His business operations in Venice included publishing, writing, translating and the ownership of a bookshop. For these reasons, a well-run local Venetian binding workshop would be essential. It would be required to cope economically with large quantities of binding and rebinding in various styles using parchment and leather. Proficiency at different methods of 'finishing', for example tooling in gold, would be crucial, whether carried out in the same workshop or that of another specialist. Alas, the name of such a craftsman remains elusive, but the bindings themselves show that Smith had definite views as to how his books and manuscripts should be bound.