Part of the Charles Ramsden Collection of Signed Bindings. Macchi states; 1) Joseph l'Aîné. Born 1791, son of a bookseller, he learned bookbinding from 1802- 1813. In 1813 he set up an atelier rue Saint-Jacques 75, 1815 École de Médecine, 1819 Fossés -Saint-Victor 36, 1823 Mazarine 29 and 1822 Passage Dauphine 36. See book by L. Gruel. He started to work with Bozerian and had acquired great competence by 1806. He set up on his own in 1813, apparently to learn the gilding which Bozérian Jeune had been unwilling to teach him. His submission of 11 bindings at the Exhibition of 1819 was rewarded with a honourable mention while at that of 1823, he gained a silver medal. The signature R.(ELIÉ) P.(AR) THOUVENIN appeared on works produced before 1820; after this date, it became THOUVENIN. In his Passage Dauphine workshop he achieved a reputation as leading binder of his epoch, and social status. He was fully aware of the excellence and lasting workmanship of his bindings which he did not hesitate to compare to their credit with the work of Bozérian Jeune, who, he stated, had made a fortune by massacring all the books that had passed through his hands. Finally, his name has been immortalised by mentions in the pages of Balzac and Stendhal, and his connection with Charles Nodier has added a lustre to both their names, often inscribed on shields on the sides of books bound for and by them respectively. Thouvenin's heyday lasted only four years, for he died early in 1834. He admitted that for many years later, he was quite incapable of attaining the standard set by many English binders, notably C. Lewis whose work was brought to him as models by his customers. Only by 1830 did he feel that he had obtained the necessary experience, and built up a team of binders which enabled him to compete successfully with English binders. The workshop became a company (Thouvenin J. Aîné et Cie.) because of financial difficulties which continued until his death. This business was founded in 1828 at rue Mazarine 34, and continued from 1830 at n. 29 and at Passage Dauphine 36 till about 1842. Its manager was M. Edouard Ray, and it was presumably founded to relieve Thouvenin of much of the financial and business routine with which he seemed to have found difficulty in dealing. A price-list issued prior to 1830 appears in L. Gruel's article on Les Thouvenins. Prices varied from 50 frs. for a full rich morocco folio to 1,25 frs. For a half-calf plain back in 18°. This binder shows first class technical skills: he pays attention producing fashionable bindings provided with fillet borders, French Restoration panel stamps of little, middle and big sizes and à la cathédrale. He is one of the first workers to adopt the retrospective style, which appealed to Nodier. (Bibliotheca Wittockiana, Bruxelles, Relieurs, 1995, p. 560-561; R. Devauchelle, Joseph Thouvenin J. Fléty, Dictionnaire, p. 168; Geneviève Guilleminot-Chrétien, Thouvenin aîné , p. 533, n. 40, 50, 107, 109; L. Gruel, Les Thouvenin, p. 434-440, 508-512; C. Ramsden, French bookbinders, p. 204, 206).

See Julien Flety, Dictionnaire des reliures francais ayant exerce de 1800 a nos jours, 1988. Paul Culot, Reliures et reliures decorees en France a l'epoque romantique, Bruxelles, 1995