The Pierrot of the Minute

Description In his 1887 guidebook Historical and Bibliographical Manual for Collectors of Bookbindings, Léon Gruel described and illustrated a 1766 binding by Robert-Jean Bailly. He then produced an exact copy, seen here. The leather cover has been cut away to reveal a rich underlayer of rose-colored silk. The same silk is used for the endpapers inside.

Exhibitions

• Bookbindings from the Gilded Age. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. 2013-2014.

Provenance Owned by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.

Credit Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1931