une reliure sculptee de michel lienard par gruelengelmann entre le livre et lobjet dart au xixe siecle bulletin du bibliophile 2010 pthe parisian bookbinding company gruelengelmann became a specialist of gift bookbinding from the middle to the end of the 19th century and turned books into precious objects dressed in carved wood ivory silver or even gold the bnf keeps a rare example of this kind of bookbinding on a book of devotion to mary entitled mois de marie by e lepelle de boisgallais res p d 159 this work is made of wood set on blue velvet and decorated with a delicate enamel painting michel lienard one of the most prolific ornemanists of the century designed it around 1856 this artist played a major role in developing their style for these times so concerned by the past but also obsessed by novelty the alliance of a wilful entreprise and talented artists permitted the carved binding to be fashionable for some decades and to be greeted with public success at the international exhibitionsp sophie derrot bibliophilie bnf gruelengelmann michel lienard reliure sculpture xixe siecle