Search by tag: 17th century

52 Weeks of Fantastic Bindings: Week 10

Rare 17th century deerskin binding Of all the different types of leathers used to bind books after the medieval period, deerskin is one of the most uncommon.  Deerskin is quite often found on medieval books, as well as…

The mystery of Ben Jonson’s 2nd Folio

In 1616 Ben Jonson gathered a collection of poems, plays and other works that would be published as a collected volume of Works. Jonson worked very closely with the press to execute a uniform work in style and format.…

Code breaking and Sir Walter Raleigh

Last winter I came across a copy of the first edition of Sir Walter Raleigh’s History of the world. This book was published after Raleigh’s first expedition for El Dorado, and after he was arrested for suspected…

52 Weeks of Fantastic Bindings: Week 4

On the trail of the elusive John Murray This weeks fantastic binding is included in this longer post about the search for an unknown former owner, we hope you enjoy! Towards the beginning of my work here at St Andrews…