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François Halma. Tooneel der Vereenigde Nederlanden
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Acquired from Antiquariaat Acanthus, Utrecht
Acquisition 2004
Date 1736
Size 41 x 28 cm.
Signature 1792 E 15
In eighteenth-century Netherlands, it was not customary for bookbinders to sign their work. An exception to this rule was the bookbinder Suenonius Mandelgreen, who worked in Middelburg. We encounter his signature four times, usually on exceptional books. But then Mandelgreen was not a Dutchman. A set of ten sumptuous volumes in the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in Belgium bearing his name, and with the addition 'UPSALO SUECUS', make this quite clear. Suenonius Mandelgreen originally came from Uppsala, in Sweden. Unfortunately, we know nothing more about his life because the Middelburg municipal archive was destroyed in World War II.
We do know that Mandelgreen arrived in Middelburg in or shortly before 1736 because that was the year in which he made his master's piece. The Koninklijke Bibliotheek purchased this volume in 2004, and now holds the only surviving master's piece from the eighteenth century. But this piece does not display the skills of a journeyman or a talented apprentice; it is the work of a master craftsman.
For this volume, Mandelgreen used no less than seven rolls and 25 different stamps, probably his own tools. He covered the volume with exquisite red morocco leather, made double capitals in tri-coloured silk and skilfully decorated the edges with ornaments and the Zeeland coat of arms. Such lavishness was not required of apprentice binders in any of the surviving guild regulations from the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries. Mandelgreen had probably already made his master's piece in Sweden in order to gain recognition. Indeed, we also encounter the use of text on the binding, as well as transecting ribbons that partition the cover, in a few extant master's pieces in Sweden. This volume was intended to impress the authorities and to let them know that a true master had arrived in their city.
(RT)
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