Venice: Venice: Bernardino Bindoni, 1538. 8vo (157 x 98 mm). Woodcut printer's device at end. Contemporary Parisian morocco by Wotton's Binder C: interlaced design, some open tools painted gray, others with pointille tooling, central armorial device of Paolo Giordano Orsini with his arms impaling the Medici arms of his future wife motto Isabella, and his motto "Pavl Iordan Vrs D. Aragon," spine in six compartments with floral design, gilt and gauffered edges (sympathetic restorations to spine ends and board edges). Very good. Item #4518

ONE OF A VERY SMALL GROUP OF ELABORATE RENAISSANCE BINDINGS EXECUTED IN PARIS FOR PAOLO GIORDANO I ORSINI BY THE THIRD OF WOTTON'S BINDERS ("WOTTON BINDER C"), AN ESTEEMED CRAFTSMAN WHOSE CLIENTELE INCLUDED MANY IMPORTANT BIBLIOPHILES SUCH AS JEAN GROLIER, FRANCOIS I, CARDINAL GRANVELLE, CHARLES DE LORRAINE, MARCUS FUGGER (THE "GERMAN GROLIER") AND THOMAS WOTTON (THE "ENGLISH GROLIER") AFTER WHOM THE WORKSHOP IS NAMED.

It is almost certain that Orsini's bindings were made for him during his only known visit to France, in 1556, when he was just fifteen. His was a diplomatic engagement, accompanying the apostolic legate Cardinal Carafa to secure an alliance with Henri II against the Spanish.

Only thirty of Orsini's Parisian bindings have so far come to light (plus two remboite), all bound by Wotton Binder C. The books are all printed before 1555 and (with two exceptions) are in Italian. The bindings either have a bold architectural strapwork decoration, as here (perhaps based on contemporary French patterns) or a "center-and-corner" design. Concerning the armorial device: Orsini impaled his own arms with those of the Medici, despite the fact that his marriage to Isabella de' Medici was not celebrated until 1558! This is the device that figures on our binding and all the other surviving examples.

Paolo Giordano I Orsini (1541-1585), Duke of Bracciano, infamous member of the famous Roman family and one of the most powerful men in Rome, was affianced in 1553 to Isabella de'Medici, daughter of Grand Duke Cosimo of Tuscany. After they married in 1558 Orsini, already immensely wealthy, became even richer, with grand palaces in Rome, Florence and Bracciano. He spent lavishly on paintings, sculptures, antiquities, tapestries, and furniture.

Orsini is suspected of strangling Isabella in 1571 in reprisal for her infidelity (apparently in broad daylight and in the presence of named servants). He is also suspected of ordering, in 1581, the murder of Francesco Peretti, wife of Vittoria Accoramboni with whom Orsini was himself having an affair. Unfortunately for Orsini, Peretti was the nephew of the future Pope Sixtus V, and soon found himself wanted not only by the Papal police but the Tuscan police. He took refuge in Venice and then in Abano and Salo with his mistress, whom he married in 1585. He died in Salo later that year.

Orsini's bindings are greatly prized but are very rare in private ownership (indeed, the great bibliophile Michael Wittock was unable to acquire one). In 2005, when the present binding came up for auction at Christie's New York, we immediately recognized it as being from the Parisian workshop of Wotton Binder C, despite the fact that Christie's described it as being "Italian." Happily we were able to secure it at the sale, and it passed into the collection of one of our favorite clients; now after twenty years we are pleased to offer the present binding again.

Despite the fact that books from Orisini's library almost never come on the open market, T. Kimball Brooker was able to secure of them, both of which commanded very high prices in the Brookeriana sales :

1. Sotheby's New York 10/11/23 lot 13. [Bible in Italian]. Venice, 1547 (Macchi no. 22). Est. $30,000 - $40,000 (unsold). Offered again at Sotheby's Paris 12/17/25 lot 45. Sold for EUR 40,640.

2. Sotheby's London 7/11/2025, lot 1709. Paolo Giovio, Vita de Leon X, Florence, 1549 (Macchi no. 24). Sold for GBP 25,400 (now in the Morgan Library).

The first penetrating study of Orsini's bindings was made by G.D. Hobson (1931) who correctly assigned them to France (not Italy). His work was continued by no less authorities than Tammaro de Marinis (1940), Anthony Hobson (French and Italian Collectors, 1953), Miriam Foot (Henry Davis Gift I, pp.152-154 and Appendix V: Bindings by Wotton’s Binder III for Other Collectors), Federico & Livio Macchi (who compiled a list of 24 bindings, for which see below).

Robin Halwas's amazing self-published article on Orsini's bindings is essential reading ("Parisian bindings for Paolo Giordano Orsini 1541-1585"). Whereas the compilers of the Brookeriana sale catalogues state that only twenty-six such examples are known, Halwas shows that there are thirty (plus two remboitage). Our binding, which had remained untraced after 2005, is listed his no. 9 and he gives a characteristically impressive provenance history, and to him we are much obliged:

1. Paolo Giordano Orsini, duca di Bracciano (1541-1585), armorial supralibros, lettered “Pavl Iordan Vrs D. Aragon”;
2. Librairie Damascène Morgand, Paris;
4. Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919);
5. Sotheby's London, 17-20 July 1922, lot 132;
6. Leo S. Olschki, Florence;
7. Christie's New York, 15 December 2005, lot 337 (binding described as "contemporary Italian morocco");
8. Purchased by Michael Laird Rare Books
9. Private Collector, USA;
10. Michael Laird Rare Books.

THE BINDER: Thomas Wotton (1521-1587), wealthy English squire, landowner and sheriff of Kent, traveled to Paris with some frequency, and there he patronized the leading binders of the day. Indeed, on Wotton the posthumous title "the English Grolier" has been bestowed owing to his early adoption of Grolier's "Et Amicorum" formula on the covers of his books. About 140 bindings from Wotton's library have been identified. From the anonymous workshop known as "Wotton Binder C," which was active in the 1540s and 1550s, and which was responsible for the present binding from Orsini's library, Thomas Wotton commissioned as many as thirty bindings; most recognizable are those that bear the date "1552."

§ Adams B-2170. Macchi, Federico & Livio Macchi, "Le legature francesi di Paolo Giordano Orsini d'Aragona: Storia di un personaggio e di una legatura" in: Misinta 45 (June 2016), pp.143-149 (our binding is listed on p.147 as no. 21).

Price: $25,000.00