A Casual Tour through the Salon du Livre

Cook deserves the best.

Last April, I was officially invited to a wonderful journey and urged to follow the footsteps of my ancestors. To make it simple, I went to the Salon du Livre in Paris. Out of a sea of wonders, I picked up three items.

Read the article
or click below:

            A casual tour through the 

Salon du Livre in Paris (June 2013).

           

            Last April, I was offically invited to a wonderful journey and urged to follow the footsteps of my ancestors... To make it simple, I went to the Salon du Livre in Paris. Since 2007, it takes place every year at the prestigious Grand Palais, and has become the holy mass of bibliophilism in France as well as one of the most important book fairs in the world, gathering some 150 booksellers from all over. It is a showroom for books of exception such as the Missale Romanum...with embroided plates that we already talked about (see The Curiosity Sale At Drouot article), a wonderful folio edition of Shakespeare’s works, dozens of books of Hours, incunables and some extremely rare travel books. Out of a sea of wonders, I decided to pick up three particular items.

A book with character

 1 – La Bruyère, Les Caractères (Paris, 1688)

The bookseller from the French Moortmather’s bookshop came to life at once. “A special book ? Yes—take this one.” He handed me an ordinary in-12 volume bound in full calf with a joyful smile. Unaware of its specific binding, I opened it—a 1688 edition of La Bruyère’s famous Les Caractères, in which the author describes the customs of his time through short, lively and dark sketches. An expert would have spotted the contemporary binding at once as it is identical to those of most copies of the first edition, reads the catalogue of Moormather’s. But there’s something more about this particular one that justifies the consequent price asked for it (20,000 euros) “If you ask me," said the bookseller, "La Bruyère was probably a real pain in the ass who kept on adding corrections to his work. For each of them, the printer had to reprint a full page before replacing it into every copy. That’s what we call “cartons”, and La Bruyère’s editions are very well-known for their numerous cartons.” Specialists have established two kind of Les Caractères’ copies: the first one features 418 sketches and 10 cartons. According to Tchemerzine, there are 5 known copies of the sort. The second one features 26 cartons. “Our copy features 23 cartons!” triumphed the bookseller.Which is quite uncommon. “Even more interesting," he added. "Our copy features a mistake corrected in the Tchemerzine’s copy! It makes it unique.” The catalogue of the book shop gives all the details regarding the cartons and the mistakes they are related to.  It is incredible how deep book lovers can push their fury. An ordinary book thus reveals a complex riddle, a  mysterious footstep left by our ancestors...

2 - Papiers dominotés

         

As I was passing through the alleys of the Salon, I was suddenly attracted to the quiet stand of the Italian bookseller Giuseppe Solmi, where some wonderful sheets of coloured papers were hanging from a wire just like drying clothes. They were composed of small repetitive geometric forms or drawings. “These are papiers dominotés, or paste papers (or wood-block papers), they were sometimes used as end-papers”, Mr Solmi told me as proudly as if speaking about his own children. And he sure loves his paste papers. The way he talks about them, touches them and looks for your approval while exhibiting them say it all... These types of papers were first used to cover up objects or even as wall papers but in the late 17th century, it became quite fashionable to use them as paper borads or even end-papers. The cheapest ones ended up covering peddling books while the nicest ones were used as end-papers in full-morocco bindings. Some are quite common, like the golden stars, others are more original. “They would print a first set of designs with wood-blocks, the bookseller said, then print another one upon it, with a different ink. They could do it three or four times, each time making sure the design would match the previous ones.” This is a work of precision. “People who are looking for these items are not necessarily the same who buy books. There is a very specific market. Look at this one!” He unfolded a magnificient in-folio piece of paper with golden flowers printed on it. “This is not gold, as you know—it would have been way too expensive. This is copper.” The result is still beautiful. According to Mr Solmi, the best end-papers were printed in Germany and their current price varies from 100 euros to 1,000 euros a sheet. As far as books are concerned, I still put the contents above all – no matter the binding, the rarity nor the end-papers, if I can not enjoy my reading, it is pointless to me. I must confess, though, that I found quite hard to resist the magic of these papiers dominotés.

Cook deserves the best.

3 -  Modern binding, contemporary calf

 The Parisian Hérodote bookshop is specialized in travel books. No wonder they offered two sets of Captain Cook’s voyages. The first one, a regular first French edition, was composed of 14 volumes in a contemporary binding and in great condition. This book remains as powerful as ever, with its magnificent engravings and yet-to-be-matched contents. Nevertheless, this copy was an ordinary one compared to the second one. The binding was attractive but somehow peculiar. From where I was standing, I found it hard to  determine wether it was contemporary or not.  Mr Olivier was spying at me for a distance—he enjoyed my confusion for awhile but eventually came to rescue me. He spoke with excitement : “Beautiful, isn’t it? This is the first English edition of Cook’s travels—except for the third one with its in-folio Atlas. It was bound by the English master binder Aquarius in the 1970s”. He stopped there, smiling. I was still glaring at the glittering gildings. Something was puzzling here. “The leather, maybe?” asked the joyful bookseller. “Hum, yes... what about it?

               - It is a contemporary Russia leather, from the 18th century. Unusual, isn't it?”

            Indeed. Now, this book has quite an amazing story : In 1786, the Die Frau Metta Catherina brigantine left St. Petersbourg with a cargo of hemp and leather. The latter was no ordinary leather, but Russia leather its typical crosshatched grain, tanned with willow bark and curried with birch oil—what the New York Times magazine calls a top-of-the-line luxury. This leather was reknowned for its unique perfume, its resistance to water and, as it seems, for being insect-repellent. Captain Twedt who was the skipper of the Die Frau Metta Catherina back in 1786, was aiming to Genoa. But he never went beyond Plymouth Sound. Torn from her anchorage by a sudden storm, the Metta Catherina eventually sank to a depth of about 100 feet. “The vessel and cargo entirely lost," read a contemporary article; "crew saved.” The cargo, including rolls of Russia leather, quitely remained underwater for the following 187 years, until some members of a local diving club discovered the ship. Brought to the surface, the rolls of leather proved to be somehow well preserved.  Mr. Brown, who happened to commercialize them, stated: ''The hides on the outer edges of the rolls, as well as others that were disturbed as the vessel sank, had all deteriorated badly. The inner hides in most of the rolls were in a remarkable state of preservation, protected by the layers of thick mud that covered everything.'' (New York Times, 2002). The reknowned English binder bought some of this Russia leather (some rolls even featured heads and tails of the animals). Such an exceptional material required an exceptional book—James Cook’s travels, of course! The English binder later on sold this one-of-a-kind copy that ended up in Hérodote bookshop in Paris. It takes a unique story to make a unique book. Some hardcore collectors might still consider it as a later binding no matter what... But this set has something special—and even the way it looks is quite unusual.

           

The Salon du Livre is not necessarily the best place to buy ordinary books. The VIP square, under the main glassy dome where the most prestigious booksellers gather, looks like a musuem—a top-of-the-line luxury salon. That’s what makes this Salon both irritating and exciting. So many beauties of this book world are there to be smelt, beheld and dreamt of! At one point, I started to feel a little bit dizzy and weak. That’s when I realized I had been casually looking at books for more than four hours straight! I don’t know if it was as wonderful as the Salon du Livre had promised, but it sure was a  journey; and quite a feverish one.

© Thibault Ehrengardt

* Giuseppe Solmi: www.giuseppesolmi.it

* Librairie Moorthamers: www.katzmoor.com

* Librairie Herodote: info@herodotebooks.com

* Le Salon du Livre: www.salondulivreancienparis.fr