One hundred and twenty copies printed on Holland
paper, and ten on Japan.
1.Q6E1U7S FAYXE,
Xtns Tindefor.MDCCXXXIX. denatiw Londiii: MDCTLXXXXVII.
ffrapbtcam sofrrtrsBIBLIOPEGI MvnMo'i'riwv mrrrts BJBLIOPOLA <ir#it._
ROGER PAYNE JN HIS WORKSHOP.
ROGER PAYNE
AND HIS ART
A SHORT ACCOUNT OF HIS LIFE
AND WORK AS A BINDER
BY
WILLIAM LORING ANDREWS
NEW-YORK
PRINTED AT THE DE VINNE PRESS
1892
INSCRIBED, IN RECOGNITION
OF HIS PREEMINENCE
IN THE ART OF
BOOKBINDING
IN AMERICA,
TO
WILLIAM MATTHEWS.
o o o
o o
o
IW529834
" A well bound book is neither of one type, nor
finished so that its highest praise is that ' had it been
made by a machine it could not have been made bet-
ter/ It is individual ; it is instinct with the hand of
him who made it ; it is pleasant to feel, to handle, and
to use j it is the original work of an original mind
working in freedom simultaneously with hand and
heart and brain to produce a thing of use, which all
time shall agree ever more and more also to call ' a
thing of beauty.' "
J. COBDEN-SANDERSON.
'
PREFATORY NOTE.
Ik JO more striking evidence can be seen of
1 V the influence the Grolier Club is exerting
upon its members, and to some extent upon book-
lovers outside of its borders, than in tbe change
that has taken place in the style and methods of
book-cottefting. Informer times, it was sufficient
for the collector to possess any copy not the
copy of a particular edition. Condition was not
insisted upon so long as possession was attained.
This can easily be verified by any one who will
take the trouble to look through any large general
library formed thirty or forty years ago. It will
be at once apparent that the niceties of clean copies,
uncut edges, fine and appropriate bindings, were
not thought of, and that while here and there might
be found a treasure from some of the old-time
printers and binders, yet after all it was but a
chance acquisition and not there as the result of a
carefully thought out plan. All this is changing.
The collector of the present day is, from the force
of circumstances, if for no higher and better rea-
son, compelled to become more and more of a
Specialist. Each one must confine himself to the
period or particular department of literature that
appeals most strongly to his taste or fancy, and
then strive to make his collection in all respects as
complete as possible.
It is this among other valuable lessons that the
Grolier Club has taught its members by its ex-
hibitions, leclures, and publications. This pre-
dominating influence has been felt even by our
older and better-known collectors.
The present sketch of Roger Payne, which it is
a pleasure as well as an honor to introduce to
those who are the fortunate possessors of the limited
number issued, owes its origin largely to the f aft
above stated.
The author, having become possessed of a few
characteristic Specimens of Roger Payne's work,
was led to study his effecls and methods, and in
the end became a noted coUeclor as well as the en-
thusiastic admirer his monograph shows him to
be. The following essay is the result of careful
study and minute examination of all that could
be discovered regarding Roger Payne's life and
work, and the opinion may safely be advanced
that it contains att that is known of that singular,
erratic, but withal artistic character. For those
who are not fortunate enough to own the original
print of Roger Payne at work in his garret
showing him a t( thing of rags and tatters," indeed,
and very touching in its pathos the frontispiece
will possess great interest. TJje plates of bindings
have been most successfully reproduced from the
books themselves by Mr. Edward Bierstadt, who has
employed his well-known artotype process to give
an exact facsimile in gold and colors of the volumes
as they are. As far as known, this is the first
attempt in this country to reproduce bindings in
color by this process; and it must be conceded
that they preserve more closely the characteristics
of the books themselves than many of the more
highly wrought but idealised plates of bindings
that are so common nowadays.
With these t( forewords," this booklet is left to
9
the "courteous reader," with merely a pause to
say that if he derives one half the amount of plea-
sure in reading that the author had in writing,
there will be pleasure enough and to sj>are.
BEVERLY CHEW.
LIST OF PLATES.
PORTRAIT OF ROGER PAYNE Frontispiece
FACSIMILE OF BILL FOR BINDING WATTS'S
VIEWS faces page 27
BINDINGS :
LA PUCELLE. Paris, 1656 " 13
ELZEVIR LIVY OF 1634 17
" PLAUTUS OF 1652, showing the
wide inside joint . ... 18
ENSIGNS OF HONOUR. Oxford, 1682 . 25
OUTSIDE COVER OF WATTS'S VIEWS . "26
INSIDE " " " . . " 27
NORTHUMBERLAND HOUSEHOLD BOOK.
London, 1770 29
THE HOLY BIBLE. Edinburgh, 1715 . 31
PSALMS. Brady & Tate, 1716 ... " 35
LA PUCELLE.
M. CHAPELAIN, PARIS, 1656.
ROGER PAYNE AND HIS ART.
HE story of the life of Roger
Payne, the most noted Eng-
lish binder of the eighteenth
century, is unfortunately the
common one of many men
of genius. It is the history of a man
generously endowed by nature with the
inventive faculty of mind, and possessed of
a high degree of manual skill in his handi-
craft, but of an entirely thriftless disposition
and most irregular habits of life. The pic-
ture presented is one of days and nights
devoted to patient, painstaking labor amidst
surroundings of wretchedness and squalor,
succeeded by long periods of idleness and
dissipation, the scene closing, when he was
hardly past the prime of life, with a lonely
T^pger "Payne
death in a comfortless garret in Duke's
Court, St. Martin's Lane.
It is nevertheless the history of a man
who, notwithstanding these serious hin-
drances to his success, stands foremost in the
ranks of English bookbinders the foun-
der of a purely English style of decoration
for the covers of books, one which has re-
ceived for nearly a century since he died that
sincerest form of admiration and approval
shown by imitation. From the few ex-
amples of binding distinctively English in
character that existed in the middle of the
eighteenth century, he formed by the force
of his taste and genius a style of ornamenta-
tion of his own, which for beauty and sim-
plicity of design and true artistic feeling in
execution has yet to be equaled by any
other binder of the English school.
Roger Payne was born in Windsor For-
est, in the year 1739, and first found em-
ployment with Pote, a noted bookseller at
Eton; thence he migrated to London, and
entered the service of Thomas Osborne, a
dealer in book rarities in Gray's Inn. This
and His
connection proved a very transient one, and
he is next found established in business for
himself by the kindness and benevolence of
a namesake, Thomas Payne, whose shop at
the Mews Gate was for half a century (1740
to 1790) a much-frequented resort of the
learned men, authors, and book-collectors,
"the Farmers, Cracherodes, Roxburghes, and
Spencers of the day." He remained the
friend and benefactor of Roger through life,
notwithstanding the trials to which his pa-
tience was subjected by the dissolute and ir-
regular habits of the man he was constantly
befriending. The frontispiece, which is a
veritable portrait of Roger Payne in his di-
lapidated and scantily furnished work-room,
is copied from an engraving which, as the
inscription shows, was made at the expense
of Thomas Payne. 1 Here he executed his
1 Thomas Payne, " Honest Tom Payne." He commenced his
career in Round Court in the Strand opposite York buildings, where
he was an assistant to his elder brother, Oliver Payne, with whom
originated (it is said) the idea and practice of printing catalogues
his first (T. P.) catalogue is dated July 29, 1740. His little shop
[in the shape of an L] was the first that obtained the name of
a literary coffee-house in London, from the knot of literati that
resorted to it. Dibdin's Decameron.
15
T^pger Tayne
many beautiful bindings, often obliged by
his necessities to make for himself out of
iron the tools which he required.
The materials used by Roger Payne as
coverings for his bindings were almost with-
out exception either straight-grained morocco
or russia leather, the first as notable for its
durability as the latter is for the lack of that
quality. 1 His decided preference was for
a straight-grained morocco of a bright red
color, which supplied him with a rich
background for gold tooling; on this he
placed an ornament, generally simple in char-
acter, but always, as he informs us in his vo-
luminous bills, intended to be appropriate to
and in harmony with the character of the
book it covered. In using a border of an-
tique shields and crescents, he tells us he
adopted them as ornaments because they
were in the head-piece of the preface of the
book, and therefore he considered them suit-
able. On the doublure of a binding on a
1 Russia leather is one of the most undesirable materials that can
be used for a binding. In a very short space of time it loses its life
and becomes hard and brittle, breaking away at the joints j it also
fades in color more quickly than any other kind of leather.
16
'I LIVII HISTORIA
ELZEVIR, 1634.
and His </lrt
vellum copy of the " Aldine Anthologia," he
placed two lyres, the upper one inverted, and
in the center a figure apparently intended to
represent a Triton blowing his' conch-shell.
It is difficult sometimes to understand clear-
ly the meaning of his emblematic tooling ;
when, however, his bill accompanies the
book, he leaves no room for conjecture, but
ascribes a meaning and significance to almost
every line he has put upon it.
In his less elaborate work the predom-
inating style is a delicate tracery of running
vines and leaves, interspersed with numerous
small dots, stars, and circlets of gold. This
he calls " studded work." The result is pecu-
liarly rich and effective. The backs are often
covered with this style of decoration, the sides
being left quite unadorned or with an orna-
ment confined to the border, leaving the cen-
ter blank. Inside joints are almost invariably
found, often very wide and lavishly tooled
and gilded, the outside of the book in these
cases being treated very simply.
His most common style of binding is a
richly tooled and gilded back, and a simple
17
T^pger Tayne
line or two upon the sides, with occasionally
the addition of a bit of his characteristic foli-
age tooling in the corners. He seldom finished
a book in full doublure or with silk linings
and fly-leaves in the style of Thouvenin and
Bozerian, and there is no example, as far as
the writer is aware, of his work in mosaic.
Many of his bindings, especially in russia
leather, are partly blind-tooled and partly
gilt, with pleasing effect. Every impression
of a tool, elaborate or simple, is undoubtedly
the work of his own hands.
The end-papers used by Roger Payne
have been more severely criticized than any
other peculiarity in his binding. They are
almost invariably of a plain color, with-
out any pattern, and often purple, for which
tint he appears to have had a remarkable
fondness; and it must be admitted that
these colors frequently form a disagreeable
contrast to the tone of the outside cover,
and have the further disadvantage of a
tendency to become in time spotted and
discolored. It is questionable, however,
whether the plain, tinted papers were not
id
PLAUTI COM1EDI1E.
ELZEVIR, 1652.
and His */lrt
preferable to the marbled ones then ob-
tainable and which he sometimes, though
rarely, used, for they were, as a rule, both
crude in color and poor in design. The
figured and gilt lining-papers used by the
French binders of the period, though very
beautiful, would not have been in har-
mony with the character of his binding,
and he never made use of them.
Many of his bindings are without any
tooling whatever save a plain gold line
around the edge ; but, however simple the
binding, it will invariably be found to be
put together in an artistic and workman-
like manner. There appears to be little
force in the criticism that his boards are
too thin; they are thin and delicate, but
they never warp, and keep their place,
firmly secured to the back. What advan-
tage, then, would be gained by having more
weight and substance in them ?
His extreme care in forwarding is well
shown by the fine condition in which many
of his bindings remain to the present time.
Every leaf, as he tells us repeatedly in his
19
T^pger Tayne
bills, was most firmly and securely stitched
separately into the back, the silken head-
bands were strongly and neatly worked in,
and the greatest care was exercised that the
leaves should be placed squarely and true ;
in fact, it is doubtful if any binder ever at-
tended with such painstaking care and mi-
nuteness to all the small details of his work.
In a copy of Tewrdannckh (folio, 1517),
bound for Mr. Wodhull, a noted collector
of the last century (for whom Roger Payne
executed many bindings), is inserted a proof
of the portrait engraved by Harding, shown
in the frontispiece ; a reduced copy of
this print will also be found in Dibdin's
"Decameron," Vol. II., page 510. The en-
graving of this portrait is remarkable evi-
dence of the estimation in which Payne's
work was held by the book-lovers of the
day, when we remember that only one other
engraved portrait of a bookbinder exists
that of Charles Lewis. Even of the great-
est of the modern French binders, Trautz,
there is only a process-plate print.
and His </lrt
The binding of this copy of Tewrdannckh,
which is quite simply ornamented, cost
;8. As Payne's charges were most moder-
ate, much of this amount must have been
the cost of cleaning and repairing. In this
part of his work he was assisted by a Mrs.
Weir, 1 noted for her skill in cleaning and
mending injured or decayed books. She
is also said to have been a binder of books,
somewhat in the style of Roger Payne's plain
work. A copy of Albertis's " Opus prae-
clarum in Amoris Remedio," 1417, which
came from the White Knights, Hibberts,
Marquis of Blandford, and Syston Park
collections, is said to be a specimen of
her binding. It is in blue, straight-grained
morocco, such as was often used by Payne,
and has the same plain colored end-papers ;
1 Mrs. Weir repaired many of the books in the famous library
of Count McCarthy at Toulouse, and the parchments, vellums,
etc., in the Record Office in Edinburgh. Her chef-d'oeuvre in
the art of restoration is said to be a copy of the " Faite of Arms
and Chivalrye," printed by Caxton, sold in the Roxburghe Sale.
Her husband, Richard Weir, was taken by Payne as a partner
in his later years j but as they were both afflicted with a too great
fondness for the ale-cup, they soon quarreled and separated.
T^pger Tayne
the only decoration on the side is a bor-
der line of gold, with the arms of the Mar-
quis of Blandford in the center.
The closest imitator of Roger Payne's
plain bindings was Kalthoeber; his elabor-
ate tooling he never attempted to copy.
The note of caution sounded so often in the
catalogues of London booksellers, as to the
danger of being deceived by imitations of
Roger Payne's binding, is hardly warranted
by the facts of the case. Any one who
has become familiar with genuine examples
of his work is in little danger of being
deceived by an imitation, so distinctive
and unmistakable is his style.
His bindings bear no signature. That
practice had not yet been adopted in Eng-
land, and only occasionally in France do we
find the binders of the eighteenth century
making use of a small printed slip (" eti-
quette "), with the name and address, inside
the cover.
In place of a signature we have, how-
ever, many of his bills. They are full of
quaintness and originality, and are verbose
and His </Irt
i
to the last degree. The following is a copy
of his bill for binding the "^Eschylus"
(Glasgow, 1795) for Lord Spencer, consid-
ered to be the finest example of his work-
manship in existence.
, Glasguae MDCCXCV Flaxman Illus-
travit Bound in the very best manner sew'd with
strong Silk, every Sheet around every Band, not false
Bands, The Back lined with Russia leather, Cutt
Exceeding Large. Finished in the Most Magnifi-
cent Manner Em-bordered with ERMINE Expres-
sive of the High Rank of the Noble Patroness of
The Designs The other Parts Finished in the
most elegant Taste with small Tool Gold Borders
Studded with Gold and small Tool Panes of the
most Exact Work. Measured with The Compasses.
It takes a great deal of Time making out the differ-
ent Measurements; preparing the Tools; and making
out New Patterns. The Back Finished in Compart-
ments with parts of Gold studded Work and open
Work to Relieve the Rich close studded Work. All
the Tools except Studded points are obliged to be
Workt off plain first and afterwards the Gold
laid on & Worked off again. And this Gold Work
requires double Gold being on Rough Grain'd Mo-
rocco The Impressions of the Tools must be fitted
& coverM at the bottom with Gold to prevent flaws &
cracks. 12 > 12 >
T^pger Tdyne
Fine Drawing Paper for Inlaying
The Designs. 5! 6<? Finest Pickt
Lawn Paper for Interleaving The
Designs, i? 8? | i yd. & a half of
Silk. io s . 64 Inlaying the Designs at
8<? each 32 DESIGNS, i. i. 4.
Mr. Morton adding Borders to the
Drawings.
i 16 -
7 -
The following bill is inserted in a copy
of Hey don's " Harmony of the World " (Lon-
don), 1662, bound for Dr. Mosely, and tooled
in what Payne calls the " Rosie Crucian taste "
and the " Druid taste," whatever they may
be. For some reason this binding, although
not an important specimen, appears to have
been a noted one, and a copy of the bill
is also given in Dibdin's "Decameron."
Bound in the very best Manner.
k sew 'd in the very best
manner with white Silk very strong
and will open easy, very neat & strong
Boards. Fine Drawing paper in-
side staind to suit ye colour of ye
Book. The outsides Finished in
the Rosie Crucian Taste very cor-
rect measured Work. The Inside Finished in the
Druid Taste with Acorns & S S (vide Stuckley's
HARMONY
OF THE
WORLD
BY
HEYDON
LONDON
MDCLXII.
ENSIGNS OF HONOUR.
WILLIAM DUGDALE, OXFORD, l682.
and His
ABURY). Studded with Stars &c in the most
magnificent manner. So neat elegant & Strong as
this Book is Bound. The Binding is well worth 13*.
and The inlaying The frontispiece Cleaning & Mend-
ing is worth 2S. To (Dr. Mosely's) great goodness I
am so much indebted that my Gratitude setts the
price for the Binding inlaying Cleaning & Mending
at only los. 6d.
1796. i8th August Rec'd the Contents by me.
ROGER PAYNE.
This bill bears his autograph signature,
which is an unusual occurrence.
In one of his bills for binding " Recre-
ations for Ingenious Head Pieces," sold in
the Doctor's library in 1815, he indulges
in the following bit of original verse, his
own composition, laudatory of his beloved
barley broth :
But history gathers
From aged forefathers
That ales the true liquor of life
Men liv'd long in health
And preserved their wealth,
Whilst Barley-Broth only was rife.
Most of the bindings in Dr. Mosely's
library were probably executed by Payne
in compensation for medical advice.
Ttyger Tayne
The following bill for binding "Sandys'
Travels, MDCX," "Wheeler and Spon's
Travels, MDCLXXV," is copied here as
evidence of the exceeding care taken by
Payne in repairing and forwarding (with
the aid undoubtedly of Mrs. Weir) the
books intrusted to him, some of which
must have been in an all but hopeless
state of dilapidation.
Bound in the very best Manner, sewed in the
Best manner with Bands outside of ye Back, Fine
Drawing Paper for flying Leaves at ye beg-yining and
end of the Book. Fine dark Coloured Paper inside
& Morocco Joints very neat.
The Back coverd with Russia Leather before the
outside cover was put on. N. B. The Common
practise of Book-binders is to Line their Books with
Brown or Cartridge Paper, the Paper Lining splits
and parts from the Backs and will not last for Time
and much reading. Bound in the finest Russia
Leather of the same Colour as imported. Parts was
staind wanted washing and cleaning, which I have
taken particular care to do, to make the Books as
fair and clean as I possibly could, it being a prin-
cipal object to make it a fine copy. Their was a
great many torn places, which 1 mended as neat as
I possibly could of the same Colour'd paper as the
Books. The Prints wanted new margins to all of
SEATS OF THE NOBILITY AND GENTRY.
W. WATTS, LONDON, 177Q.
INSIDE COVER OF WATTS'S VIEWS.
- -^ *W 0-
uvjfsrv*^ 14-./4*. iVffm M-/fS& /-tsrt- Sc^it*
<?&, uz*&. <&* ,^/< :, T:
y/ si C\ /} '- //
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'- x '//>-- : ^ j
^//%/^- <5^t^,,' Vx -r^/
/^i^^^y^ ,
^ //7 '
" ' - X*
> $"" < '
p
BILL FOR BINDING WATTS'S VIEWS.
(SEE NEXT PAGE.)
? f*A.
UfJ
Hny I-' /
<** . t *" ' y C
^'^ *T^? A
,v >
fe^ >
st . - ^ . ^; > ;- '
/ ; g -/^p
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'. *
.
A . ; '
li<$t ' -'ML A/2 >
h:
and His Jlrt
them except 2 or 3 for the old margins was ragd
and staind. I have taken care to piece the margins
very neat with paper of the same Colour and sub-
stance in the thickness or thiness of the various
Prints as I passably could, took a great deal of time.
I hope I have been earful to put in the very best
impressions. I have taken care not to beat or any
ways injure the Prints. I have been conscientiously
carc-ful in all parts of ye Work. ji. 13. o. Dec. 1**
1794. Rec<? the Contents.
Per ROGER PAYNE, Book-binder.
The reproduction opposite is a facsimile
of a very beautiful specimen of his binding
upon a large quarto volume, "Watts's Views
of the Seats of the Nobility." A facsimile
of his bill for the same is also given.
One of the singular pieces of good for-
tune that sometimes, although rarely, be-
fall the collector of books is illustrated by
an experience of the writer some years
since.
A copy of the "Northumberland House-
hold Book," bound by Roger Payne, was
purchased at the Stourhead Library sale
in 1883. No bill was noted in the cata-
logue as accompanying the book, but it
T^pger Tayne
was a well-authenticated binding of Roger
Payne, and the bill itself was printed in
full in Clarke's " Repertorium Bibliographi-
cum." Apparently the original bill had
been lost. In 1888, five years afterward,
the following note came from the London
agent :
DEAR SIR,
One of the people at Sotheby's [the old and
well known London auction house] found in a lot
of waste paper the original Roger Paynes bill for
binding the Northumberland book which I bought
for you at the Stourhead Library Sale & feeling
sure that you would like to put it into the book
I gave him a reward for it (10 shillings), & now
enclose it to you.
Thus, after five years of separation, dur-
ing which this little slip of paper had been
lying unnoticed on the dusty floor of a
London auction-room, it and the book to
which it belonged were safely brought to-
gether again.
:ARL OF NORTHUMBERLAND'S HOUSEHOLD BOOK.
LONDON, 1770.
and His </lrt
BILL FOR BINDING THE NORTHUMBERLAND
HOUSEHOLD BOOK.
Bound in the very best Manner
THE EARL OF in Red Morocco.
NORTHUM- No false Bands but Sew<? in the
BERLAND'S very best Manner on strong &
neat Bands. The Back lined with
HOUSEHOLD Russia Leather under the Morocco
BOOK Covering. Fine Drawing paper
Colourd to suit the original Colour
BEGUN of the Book Inside for flying leaves
ANNO and very neat Morocco Joints in-
DOMINI side. The Outsides Finished in
MDXII an elegant Antiq /Taste with Bor-
ders of 'S 'S & Laurel Branch an
LONDON Andq Shield & Crescent in ye
PRINTED Borders. The Crescent is used in
MDCCLXX the Head piece of ye preface which
was my reason for using it in the
Back & Borders being suitable to
the Book. The greatest care hath
be taken to preserve the margins.
Gilt leaves not Cutt. 2 leaves
was very much staind at y e end
of the Book we washed them very \. i. o
carfully and they are now very
Clean.
T^pger Tayne
BILL FOR BINDING A COPY OF LILLY'S CHRIS-
TIAN ASTROLOGY, NOW IN THE LIBRARY
OF THE GROLIER CLUB.
CHRISTIAN ASTROLOGY BY LILLY.
LONDON. MDCLIX.
Bound in the very best manner, sewd in the very
best and most honest manner on Bands, outside.
The Book being very thick it required the greater
care in sewing to make it easy and not fail.
it is absolutely a very Extra Bound Book. I hope
to be forgiven in saying so & unmatchable Velum
Headbands, so as not to break like paper rold up
Headbands.
The greatest care and method taken to make this
Book as good a Copy as my hands and experience of
Work was able to do the Binding s
in Russia Quarto. 1 1
Washing & taking out the Writing
Ink. Washed the Whole Book. 6-6
Cleaning it was very dirty & I am
certain took full 2 Days Work. The
Frontispece was in a very indif-
ferent Condition all the Writing
Ink is taken out of it amended & > 6
several other places mended. The
greatest care hath been taken of
the Margins. Gilt.
Leaves not Cutt.
and His <Art
One of the most beautiful bindings of
Roger Payne is upon a copy of " The
Holy Bible" printed at Edinburgh, 1715,
now in the possession of a New-York
collector. It has more than an ordinary
interest from the fact of its having been
specially bound for his friend Mr. Thomas
Payne, and has his initials worked in the
ornament on the side. This binding was
copied for the cover of the first publication
of the Grolier Club, "The Decree of
Starre-Chamber," the letters G. C. being
substituted for T. P. The original bill is
inserted, in which the binder says: "The
outsides finished in the richest and most
elegant taste, richer and more exact than
any book that I ever bound."
The charge for binding was \ 18 o;
for mending and cleaning, o 3 6 ; a total
of ^2 i 6.
Its present marketable value is easily
forty times this sum.
The patrons of Roger Payne numbered
all the noted book-collectors of the last
century. For Earl Spencer he bound many
T^pger Tayne
books, notably his chef-d'oeuvre, the "JEs-
chylus," previously mentioned. The Beau-
clerc, Cracherode, and Stanley collections
also contained fine specimens of his work,
as did also that of Mr. Wodhull, the well-
known classical scholar and collector. At
the sale of the Wodhull library and that of
the Duke of Hamilton, and at the Syston
Park sale, all of which have occurred dur-
ing the past eight years, the principal and
almost the only opportunities have been
afforded for this generation of collectors to
secure specimens of Roger Payne's bind-
ing. No important source of supply ap-
parently now remains excepting the improb-
able one of the library at Althorp (Lord
Spencer's) coming upon the market.
Roger Payne died in a little room in
Duke's Court, St. Martin's Lane, London,
on the 2oth of November, 1797. In this
brief sketch of his life and work it is not
sought to prove that he excelled or even
equaled in artistic sense or skilful execu-
tion the famous French and Italian binders
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
and His
The French book-collector covets no Roger
Payne binding; neither, for that matter, is
he much interested in any book that has not
something Gallic in its construction. The
catalogue of his library rings the changes on
La Fontaine, Moliere, and the remainder of
the circumscribed list of great French au-
thors, until the reiteration becomes weari-
some. But to the English or the American
collector the distinct and thoroughly Anglo-
Saxon flavor of Roger Payne's work is pe-
culiarly grateful and attractive ; it is more
in harmony with his Chippendale or Shera-
ton cabinet than the bindings of Le Gascon,
Pasdeloup, or Duseuil, charming and beau-
tiful as they are. An incidental advantage
of a Roger Payne binding is, that it covers,
as a rule, cleaner and more wholesome litera-
ture than that of his fellow-craftsmen across
the Channel.
The annals of English binders preced-
ing Roger Payne are few and meager.
The Irish monk Dazius in the sixth cen-
tury illuminated manuscripts and covered
them with gorgeous bindings of gold,
33
PSALMS OF DAVID.
N. BRADY, LONDON, iyi6.
and His <Art
more representative of the art of needle-
work than that of bookbinding.
William Caxton, the first English printer,
and his immediate successors, Wynkyn de
Worde, Pynson, and Machlinia, may be
styled the printer-binders, the books which
they printed being undoubtedly bound at
the press before they were offered to the pub-
lic for sale, probably by workmen brought
from Germany, France, and Flanders.
Of all the English bindings that have
come under the writer's observation, the one
which represents a style by which Payne
may have been influenced more than by any
other is upon a little duodecimo volume of
the "Psalmes of David," printed in 1716.
It is ornamented with the same or similar
trailing vines and leaves, and multitudinous
dots and circlets, so much employed by
Payne. Although akin to this beautiful
creation of his nameless predecessor, Payne's
work is never an imitation of it, but invari-
ably bears the stamp of his own genius and
individuality.
To many book-collectors of the present
T^pger Tayne
day this estimate of the bibliopegic skill
of Roger Payne may appear too highly
colored. That the artistic quality of his
work was fully recognized and his bindings
greatly esteemed by the collectors of the
last century (the formative period of the
finest as well as the most extensive private
libraries of England) we have the testi-
mony of John Nichols, the " indefatigable
editor" of the "Gentleman's Magazine,"
who wrote of him, shortly after his death,
these words of unstinted praise : " He lived
without a rival, and died, it is feared, with-
out a successor."
14 DAY USE
DESK FROM WHICH
Th book is du
CBRARY
^ed.
ped below.
.General Library
University ? f Calig rn ;
Berkeley
orma
M529834