Bindings with Superexlibris of Prince A.I. Vyazemsky

Abstract

The analysis of individual bindings of hand-printed books belonging to the same owner opens up great possibilities in the study of bookbinding of a certain time period. If the bindings are characterized by significant similarities in the use of materials, production techniques and decoration, it is possible to assume their common origin from a single bookbinding workshop. The presence of a superexlibris, contemporary to the binding work, is a sign of the work of a bookbinder who performed the whole complex of tasks at once – to protect, decorate the book and inform about its ownership. In this case, the dates of the owner’s (customer’s) life and the milestones of his biography can serve as a reference point for dating the bindings. More than 70 copies of European editions of the 18th century with superexlibris of the Vyazemsky princes in bindings of the end of the 18th – beginning of the 19th century were found in the collection of the Research Scientific Department of Rare Books (Book Museum) of the Russian State Library. The article proves that these books belonged to Andrei Ivanovich Vyazemsky and their bindings were made in Russia. Several groups of bindings united by material, constructive and decorative features are identified and described. Speculations are made about the location of the workshops that produced these bindings and about the possible influence of the customer’s tastes on their design. Characteristic features of bindings from the library of A.I. Vyazemsky, given in the article, can be used in the description of Russian bindings of the 18th and 19th centuries to clarify the date of their production.