Our cover reproduces a 1688 binding protecting L’office de la Semaine Sainte, which explained the many rites and observances to be followed during the most important period in the Christian calendar, the Holy Week.The original cover was adorned à la fanfare, a handtooled pattern edged in gilt. Fanfare, which was a style popular in the 17th century, required tremendous skill on the part of the bookbinder and was reserved for books of great importance.Poetry in BloomThis cover design, originally crafted by Riviere and Son, centres around a sensitive plant (mimosa pudica) surrounded by chambers containing snowdrops and other richly hued and contrasting flowers, foliage and butterflies. The original binding was used for The Sensitive Plant and Early Poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley and is a celebration of the many moods of the creative spirit.
