Michel, Marius
The name employed by Jean Michel (1821-1890) and
his son, Henri François (1846-1925), who
were distinguished Parisian bookbinders. The work
of the elder Michel, while technically excellent,
was largely traditional. Henri Francois, on the
other hand, was more enterprising, and used curved
stamps instead of small dies and fillets to work
exotic flower and leaf forms, and also attempted
to relate the decoration of the book cover to its
contents. He was the first bookbinder to suggest
that the mood of the book should be continued in
the design and color of the binding. He may, in
fact, be called the founder of the 20th century
French school of binding. The designs of the two
binders were often based on natural forms and the
ornament is often expressed in color, outlined in
blind, and very often without the use of gold. See
PLATE X . (140 , 347 )
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