File:Binding by Zaehnsdorf, 1896.jpg

Maroon goatskin with ornate gold tooled frames on upper and lower covers. Armorial device of Alexander H. Turnbull in the centre.

The bookbinding firm of Zaehnsdorf was founded in London in 1842 by Joseph Zaehnsdorf (1816-1886), an Austro-Hungarian craftsman-binder who learned his trade in Stuttgart and Vienna. While he was very successful, becoming ‘Bookbinder to the King of Hanover’ by 1861, it was under his son Joseph William Zaehnsdorf (1853-1930) that the firm was able to develop further and prosper. Joseph William did much to make known the principles of sound binding practice, and to increase the appreciation and knowledge of fine binding. He was the author of The art of bookbinding (1880) which became a standard textbook for apprentices, and he wrote a series of articles on amateur bookbinding in which he stated that the finishing or decorative side of bookbinding caused the most difficulty for the amateur. The firm was known for its high-quality workmanship and excelled in the retrospective binding popular in the 19th century. The firm’s most skilled craftsmen were reserved for the higher-quality work sometimes working from their own designs, and sometimes from designs produced by professional designers, both constructing their patterns from existing styles. This firm was at its height from the 1890s until the First World War, and it is during this period that Alexander Turnbull had many of his books bound.

Purchased by Alexander H. Turnbull.