Beschreibung:

ROSPIGLIOSI BINDING A richly tooled seventeenth-century morocco binding (only) from the Roman atelier of the Andreoli brothers . Brown morocco over pasteboard, covers with roll-tooled border enclosing a compartment décor, each compartment filled with a semis of flame, flower or leaf tools within outlines of double fillets and small dentelle rolls, a few corners terminating in volutes, large fan motifs at corners of central panel; central quadrilobular cartouche filled with the arms of an unidentified Cardinal, possibly a member of the Chigi family (probably added a bit later); the spine in seven paneled compartments decorated with fleurons and small star tools. Rome, ca. 1670-1680, housed in a modern fitted cloth case. 13 3/4 x 9 3/4 inches (35 x 24.5 cm). Binding only (no contents), lacking the fabric ties, restoration to losses in two of the compartments of the spine. Dubbed by A. R. A. Hobson the "Rospigliosi bindery" after one of its most prominent patrons (Cardinal Giulio Rospigliosi, later Clement IX), the Roman binding shop which at its peak was led by the brothers Gregorio and Giovanni Andreoli descendants of a prominent publishing dynasty, was active throughout the seventeenth century and into the first two decades of the eighteenth century. During its most productive period, from circa 1650 to 1690, the shop was patronized by royalty (including Queen Christina of Sweden), aristocracy and church dignitaries. It became the official Vatican bindery when Gregorio Andreoli was granted the lifetime title of bookbinder to the Vatican Library in 1665. The present binding is typical of the Andreoli's "compartment" style of decoration, in which geometrical compartments are filled with semis or fields of repeated small tools, with fan motifs providing variety at the four edges or sides. The Andreolis composed variations on this style throughout their career; and Tolomei provides comparable examples from the 1630s, 1650s and 1670s. In this binding, the ornamental border roll, the tiny tear-drop or flame tools, and the stars and other small tolls used on the backstrip are reproduced on Tolomei's plate V, the elements of the fan on his plate VI, and the volutes on plate VIII; all of these tools are securely attributed to the Andreoli shop, where they were used in bindings from the 1650s to 1680s. Foot Henry Davis Gift I, pp. 323-336, The Borghese bindery, the Rospigliosi bindery and their patrons. C