More about W. Collin's Clavigo

Back in November of 2017 I shared images of a new W. Collin binding I acquired of Goethe's Clavigo. Below, the dealer's description. The title page was by E.R. Weiß, han-colored prints by v. Seckendorf, and bound in full vellum in 1918. It warrants mentioning that W. Collin was the name of the firm of Court bookbinders started by W[ilhelm] Collin with his son Georg Collin his successor. More about them in this post from 2013. After Georg's death on December 24th, 1918, the firm was managed by his wife Regina and then daughter Gertrud.

Clavigo. Ein Trauerspiel. München Verlag der Marées-Gesellschaft (R Piper & Co), 1918.

5 Bll., gest. Titel (von E. R. Weiß), 132 Seiten, Gr8° (23,4 x 17,6 cm), handgeb. Ganzpergamentbd. (sign. W. Collin Berlin) mit prunkvoller Ganzdeckel-Vergold., vergold. Innenfileten, Kopfgoldschnitt und olivgrünen Seidenmoiree-Vorsätzen. Die farbigen Illustrationen sind handkolorierte Wiedergaben von Emil Wöllner nach Aquarellen von Götz Freiherr von Seckendorf, der im August 1914 im Krieg gefallen war. Erschienen als 1. Druck der Marées-Gesellschaft in einer Auflage von 150 (insgesamt 200) nummerierten Exemplaren auf Bütten. Dies ist die Nummer 47. - Sehr gut erhaltenes Exemplar in einem bibliophilen und signierten Meistereinband, der verzierte Original-Umschlag mit eingebunden.

Goethe's Clavigo, 1918.

After finding my binding by W. Collin of Adolf von Menzel depicted in a mongraph, I decided to look at the list of bindings entered into Deutsche Einbandkunst, the Jakob-Krause-Bund exhibit of 1921, the catalog for which was produced by Ernst Collin.

The dates indicate the year bound.

Goethe. Clavigo. Prg (Parchment), Hand-tooled. 1918.
Bindings 9-12 were lent by Tito Körner. Who was he?

Georg Collin passed on December 24th, 1918. This was not the first copy of Clavigo bound at W. Collin. I introduced one published in 1774, and shared with me by a fellow collector on this blog in 2017. The designs are very similar, and the binding is not dated, none are. 

I think I may have a one of Georg Collin's last bindings bound at W. Collin. Whether it is the one exhibited can't be determined without images, it may have been the one published in 1774, or even another. Sadly, I am not aware of any pictures of the exhibition, anywhere. Still, exciting to speculate it may be my binding.

Textbook for Trade School Apprentices

Just received Der Fachunterricht der schmückenden Berufe, Buchbinder (1927) by Beyer u. Weißenmüller. It was written to accompany the instruction apprentices would receive in trade school,  supplementing what they would learn in their binderies. This specific manual was written for those in more remote, less resource rich areas, away from the major urban centers.

Professional Instruction for the Decorative
Trades - Bookbinding

Title page.

A note to the reader.

The exercises in this little volume should be solved by you independently. Given your practical experiences and knowledge, this should not be difficult. The trade specific descriptions are there to supplement what you know, and serve as encouragement to continue on and experiment, even outside of school. 

See also my post on "designing spines". 

How to draw ellipses. Always need to have a chapter
on drawing shapes, including geometric solids...

Design template for different binding types, from
stiffened paper to "better" quarter cloth. The template
suggests proportions, and thinking about
where what materials and colors are used.

Letterform basics...

Type, letter spacing, kerning.

Placing a title on cover and spine.

Experimenting with color and placement
on the binding.

Base color and the addition and lightening
with white. Now try this with other colors.
The colors are hand-painted in.

Edge treatments: Solid, sprinkled, marbled.
Note the variants. As before, experiment...

Tipped-in paste paper swatches.

More tip-ins, this time sprinkled papers.

Combining the elements: Edge treatment,
covering paper, and end paper.

Stiffened paper binding with a label.
Cloth spine with decorative paper sides.

Quarter cloth with cloth spine, marbled paper
sides, uncolored edges, and end paper.

Another quarter cloth with different color
combinations.

As apprentices left school at a young age
(early teens), they continued to receive
instruction in citizenship and social studies.

W. Collin binding on v. Menzel

Back in September of 2020, I acquired the W. Collin binding on Adolf von Menzel depicted below. 

This weekend, I downloaded a copy of Deutsche Einbandkunst im ersten Jahrzehnt des zwanzigsten Jahrhunderts by the great German bibliophile and author of the time G.A.E. Bogeng. Hathitrust is great for this sort of thing.

Title page, the book was published in [1911].

It was printed by orphans in Halle a. Salle.

Binding by Collin in cut leather (Lederschnitt) with dyed leather.

Hey, I recognize that book...

In my original post I had surmized the book was bound by the firm of W. Collin after 1918 based on the way it was signed, without the Hofbuchbinder (Court bookbinder). Since the book it was depicted in is from 1911 that clearly can't be the case. Good to know. Now to update that original post.