| Binding | Description | Notes |
|---|---|---|
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2nd half of the 17th century. Binding of black sprinkled brown calfskin with King Frederik III’s gold monogram and gold decorations on the spine. | Frederik III binding, variant 1. Frederik III was King of Denmark 1648-1670 and founder of the Royal Library. As in other princely libraries the King endeavoured to give his books uniform bindings. He employed two French bookbinders who managed to bind c. 2,000 books using black sprinkled brown calfskin with two variants of decoration on the spine. In the collections today there are still numerous of these bindings with the golden monogram F3 in the top compartment of the spine. All Frederik III bindings belong to the Royal Library. Hebraica Biblia Latina planeque nova Sebast. Munsteri translatione …, Vol. II (1534-1535). |
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2nd half of the 17th century. Binding of black sprinkled brown calfskin with King Frederik III’s gold monogram and gold decorations on the spine. | Frederik III binding, variant 2. See above for further information. All Frederik III bindings belong to the Royal Library. Cornelius Wytfliet: Descriptionis Ptolemaicæ augmentum sive Occidentis notitia (1597). |
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Mid 18th century. Brown leather binding decorated with blind tooling and gilding. In the top compartment of the spine is seen the back-to-back monogram of Christian VI. | 'Mirror binding'. This is an 18th century Danish variant of the English Cambridge bindings. The Danish 'mirror bindings' are characterized by a dark marbled central panel (the mirror), surrounded by a blind tooled frame and, outside of that, a lighter area that is also surrounded by a line. The Royal Library holds a large number of 'mirror bindings'. The book shown here was bound for King Christian VI (1730-1746) by Jacob Wilhelm Boppenhausen, son of the book binder Johann Boppenhausen (see a book bound by him here) and himself engaged as book binder of the Royal Library in the period 1737-1761. Altogether he is known to have produced 1998 books for the Royal Library, of which more than 800 are mirror bindings in diverse variants. Paolo Sarpi: Histoire du Concile de Trente (1736). |
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Mid 18th century. Brown leather binding decorated with blind tooling and gilding. On the central panel is seen the royal monogram of Frederik V. On the spine is seen the royal monogram in the top compartment and the Danish coat of arms in the compartments below the title. | 'Mirror binding' made for King Frederik V (1746-1766) by Jacob Wilhelm Boppenhausen, son of the book binder Johann Boppenhausen (see a book bound by him here) and himself engaged as book binder of the Royal Library in the period 1737-1761. Altogether he is known to have produced 1998 books for the Royal Library, of which more than 800 are mirror bindings in diverse variants. M. Outhier: Journal d’un voyage au nord, En 1736 & 1737 (1744). |
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Early 19th century. On the spine is seen the crowned monogram of Frederik VI (1808-1839). | This book was bound for the Royal Library in the reign of Frederik VI (1808-1839).
Theodorus Gaza: Grammaticae institutionis libri duo, sic translati per Erasmum Roterodamum … (1521). |
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19th century. | Sample of paper bindings made for the Royal Library in the 19th century.
Pierre de Ronsard: Hymne de Bacus (1555). |
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19th century. | Sample of paper bindings made for the Royal Library in the 19th century
Martin Luther: Eyn Sermon van der werdige Entfangynge des hyllygen lichammes christi … (1522). |
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19th century. | Sample of paper bindings made for the Royal Library in the 19th century
Philipp Melanchton: Propositiones de missa (1521). |