Our Aurelia design is fit for a king… really! The inspiration for this cover comes from a leather book bound in Paris in 1748 that held copies of King Louis XV’s procedures for Holy Week.
French nobility and their bookbinders were not noted for their restraint in the use of gold embellishment, and this gilt-edged cover is no exception. Originally crafted by Pierre-Paul Dubuisson, this design is a marvellous riot of gold-tooled rococo elements such as birds, flowers and leaves. Dubuisson was himself bookbinding royalty of a sort. He and his father specialised in almanacs decorated with gold plates, and Dubuisson became the King’s official bookbinder in 1758.
Despite Dubuisson’s near-royal stature, this binding was once falsely attributed to Nicolas-Denise Derome le jeune, another celebrated French bookbinder of the era. And like Dubuisson, Derome is no stranger to our Paperblanks collection as it is his mediæval au semé motif that graces our Parisian Mosaic covers!
This cover, the crème de la crème of French gilt binding, is an ode to the glory of gold – the precious metal against which all others are measured.
About Paperblanks: 25 years ago, we created Paperblanks to help keep book heritage alive and vital in our modern age, and to offer an inspiring space for people to express themselves. Thanks for joining us on this journey! For more about Paperblanks, go to our website at paperblanks.com.
