05 July 2013

"Tree-calf" explained


Mark Twain, deploring the prose of James Fenimore Cooper:
“when a personage talks like an illustrated, gilt-edged, tree-calf, hand-tooled, seven-dollar Friendship’s Offering in the beginning of a paragraph, he shall not talk like a negro minstrel in the end of it.”
That comes from the infamous essay “Fenimore Cooper’s Literary Offenses,” which I was delighted to read decades ago.  At the time I didn't pay attention to "tree-calf," but it caught my eye yesterday.

I found the explanation at Pazzo Books (whence the embedded top image):
Named for the tree-like design left behind by the treatment with acidic chemicals, tree-calf (and it’s less arboreal cousin, acid calf) were popular binding choices from the late 18th century until well into the 19th.
When I worked as a librarian, I remember reshelving some books that looked like these.  I never knew there was a term for the style.  You learn something every day.

Addendum"Friendship's Offering" explained.

3 comments:

  1. Indeed! And there is controlled vocabulary for it. Whee!
    655  7  Tree calf bindings ǂ2 rbbin

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    1. Thank you. I don't read Klingon, and Google couldn't find your explanation, but I did find this at a rare book site while searching:

      CALF
      Bindings made from calf hide are the most frequently seen leather coverings. Such bindings have a smooth surface with no identifiable grain. The natural tone of a calf binding is light brown, but can be dyed almost any color. The following terms are often associated with calf bindings:
      DICED: a decorative design of diamonds or squares that has been scored onto the leather.
      MARBLED: stained with a diluted acid to produce the effect of swirling hues.
      MOTTLED: a random design on calfskin produced by sponging it with acid or dyes.
      PANELED: a rectangular space on a cover or spine, often framed by gilt or plain ruled lines tooled into the leather.
      POLISHED: calfskin polished to a smooth, reflective finish.
      REVERSED: binding with the inner side of the skin facing outward.
      SPANISH: a process, originating in Spain, of using red and green acid dye to stain brilliant flecks of color in the binding.
      SPECKLED: leather treated with acid to form patterns of small dark spots or specks.
      TREE CALF: a highly polished calf binding that originated in the late 18th century in which the leather has been stained to produce a dark tree-like pattern along the front and rear boards.

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  2. It's surprising you don't understand Unknown's "Klingon" if, as you stated, you were are librarian. That is basic controlled metadata vocabulary which is essential to the librarian profession.

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