This weighty book is indispensable for scholarly institutional libraries and individuals interested in early Italian bookbinding and the history of collecting. It is the culmination of Anthony Hobson’s life’s work on Renaissance bookbinding and is based on notes that Hobson left behind when he died in 2014, aged ninety-two, complementing his previous published work on Roman and Venetian binding. These notes were lovingly edited by Edward Potten, FSA and Mirjam Foot, FSA, and the book is generously illustrated. The biographical preface by Christopher de Hamel is a witty and reverential memoir of his friend and mentor.

It is clear from the editors’ introduction that the process of standardising references and chasing down the books so that the blanks could be completed was extremely arduous. Finding the books’ locations, checking the references and ensuring that the right description was complete and consistent for all books was a Herculean task. Ed Potten and Mirjam Foot deserve the highest credit.

The books that are described are in many cases exceptionally beautiful and the illustrations in the book aim to reflect that. As a collector of bindings, I found the descriptions of the books, their binders and the binding workshops fascinating. Who would not want to see a book by the ‘Coiled Snake Binder’ or one from the ‘Fortune and Cupid Shop’? And it is nice to know that the ‘Stork and Pelican Binder’ was really a man called Nicolo Batti, a clothworker, who was succeeded by Sebastiano, a notary and hobbyist bookbinder. How many other books, one wonders, have been bound by lawyers?

The lists of former owners give a unique perspective on the history of book collecting. Bookbindings have not been valued in every period as we now value them, and these survivors, and the people who appreciated them, show that there have always been those who value beautiful books. The provenances give plenty of opportunities for further research.

It is a pity that the great scholarship this book represents has not been reflected in its production standard. Through no fault of the editors, the standard of the illustrations is poor, and as good photographs are essential for a book on bindings, to enable the binders’ tools to be seen clearly so that the binders can be identified, this is a significant defect. The price of £250 will also put the book out of the reach of many of the scholars who would most use it. Nonetheless, this is an important work well worth its place on the shelf.