Lesné, François A.D.
A 19th-century French bookbinder who referred to
himself as the "Poet-binder" because of his poems
eulogizing bookbinding. Lesné is better
known. however, for his development of a temporary
soft-cover binding of plain calfskin which was
said (by Lesné) to be an improvement over
the BRADEL BINDING
, developed earlier in the 19th century.
Lesné's binding consisted of calf-covered
boards sewn to a strip of linen; the sections
themselves, however, were not sewn. It is not
clear how the sections or leaves were secured to
the linen. unless. as in a later American binding
which infringed on Lesné's method. the
boards were sewn to the linen at both spine and
fore edge, thus creating a form of wrapper
binding. In order not to deceive the buyer,
Lesné stated that books so "bound" would
bear the blind stamped inscription "Exposition de
1834. Cartonnages conservateurs de Lesné."
(It was at this exposition that he received a
bronze medal for his invention.) (89 )
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