Queens' Binder (or Queen's Binder) is the name given to a small group of English bookbinders active during the Restoration period (1660 – ), often called the "Golden Age of English Bookbinding".

Etymology

The name derives from the fact that similar bookbindings were found in the libraries of both Catherine of Braganza and

Mary of Modena Mary of Modena ( it, Maria Beatrice Eleonora Anna Margherita Isabella d'Este; ) was Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland as the second wife of James II and VII. A devout Roman Catholic, Mary married the widower James, who was then the young ...

. The term was first coined by G. D. Hobson in his book ''Bindings in Cambridge Libraries'' and was a convenient term to refer to the characteristic drawer-handle tools and volutes with

pointillé ''Pointillé'' is a decorative technique in which patterns are formed on a surface by a means of punched dots. The technique is similar to embossing or engraving but is done manually and does not cut into the surface being decorated. ''Pointill� ...

outlines rather than floral volutes much used by the other binders of the period.

Subtypes

H. M. Nixon subdivided the bindings into three groups, Queens' Binder A, B, and C, due to the slight variations between them.*Nixon, H. M. ''English Restoration Bookbindings: Samuel Mearne and His Contemporaries''. British Museum Publication, 1974. Queens' Binder A is the most prolific of the three, but Queens' Binder B is considered the finer artisan. Although the bookbinders have not all been definitively identified, there is strong grounds for considering

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...

& Charles Mearne, Roger Bartlett, and

William Nott Major-General Sir William Nott (20 January 1782 – 1 January 1845) was a British military officer of the Bengal Army, East India Company in British India. Early life Nott was born in 1782, near Neath in Wales,Lloyd (1958), pg 686. the seco ...

as being at least partially responsible.

References

17th-century establishments in England Organizations established in the 17th century Bookbinders Mary of Modena The Restoration Catherine of Braganza {{publish-stub