Marbling on the Move
In the 17th century, marbled papers became popular in Germany as decorations for the home, and then in France as endpapers. French and German marbled papers were soon prized in bookmaking and were disseminated through Europe via fairs and trade routes. Though marblers kept their knowledge closely guarded, techniques eventually spread. By the 18th century, the Spanish had invented their own waved pattern. English bookbinders initially imported marbled papers from the continent at a low cost as wrappings on toys. In the mid-18th century, the English began creating their own marbled papers with enthusiasm, developing a range of techniques.
Antique Spot Marbling
Bossuet, Jacques Bénigne. Défense de la tradition et des saints peres. A Paris: Chez Jean-Thomas, Libraire-Imprimeur ordinaire du Roi, &e. à S. Paul & à S. Hilaire, Les Freres Estienne, Libraires, à la Vertu, 1763.
A beautiful example of antique spot marbling, a popular style in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, in which small amounts of white ink or soap spirits are splashed onto a marble base to make spots.
Shell Marbling
Aikin, John. The Lives of John Selden, Esq. and Archbishop Usher; with Notices of the Principal English Men of Letters with Whom They Were Connected. London: Printed for Matthews and Leigh, Strand, 1812.
In shell marbling, two or three colours are mixed with oil, producing white outlines and darker centres. This style emerged in France in the late 18th century.
Spanish Marbling
Lardner, Nathaniel. Works with a Life by Dr. Kippis. London: James Webb, 1839.
Spanish marbling was first created in Spain in the 17th century. For this style, paper is placed onto the size and then moved from side to side repeatedly to create a linear wavy pattern.
Zebra Marbling
Dibdin, Thomas Frognall. Reminiscences of a Literary Life. London: J. Mayor, 1836.
Zebra marbling was created in the late 19th century. In this technique, the marbler draws a comb down and up over the surface of a Turkish base and then splashes two or three additional colours on the surface with a marbling brush.
Wave Combed Fountain Marbling
Lucan, Richard Bentley, and Hugo Grotius. M. Annaei Lucani Pharsalia: cum notis Hugonis Grotii, et Richardi Bentleii. Twickenham: Strawberry-Hill, 1760.
Another example of wave combed fountain.
Gloster Marbling
Atlas Ouranios = or, The Coelestial Atlas, or, A New Ephemeris for ... 1803:... The fifty-Fourth impression. London: Printed for the Company of Stationers by M. Brown ..., and sold by George Greenhill, 1803.
The Gloster style of marbling emerged in Gloucester in the late 19th century. In this style, two or three colours are thrown onto the surface and combed into a flowing pattern. Then, ink mixed with turpentine is added, creating bubble-like spots.
Sun Marbling
Parker, Gilbert. The Seats of the Mighty: Being the Memoirs of Captain Robert Moray, Sometime an Officer in the Virginia Regiment, and Afterwards of Amherst’s Regiment. [4th ed.]. Toronto: Copp, Clark, 1896.
For sun marbling (developed around 1855), the marbler draws a comb through two or three colours, and then throws on black ink mixed with kreolin, lime water, and potash solution. The reaction between the chemical solution and the ink causes sun-like shapes.
Morris Marbling
Boyle, Eleanor Vere, and William Phillips Barrett. Ros Rosarum: Ex Horto Poetarum = Dew of the Ever-Living Rose: Gathered from the Poets’ Gardens of Many Lands. 2nd ed. London: Elliot Stock, 1896.
Morris marbling was invented in the late 19th century. In this style, one soaks a sheet of paper in water, then drops colours onto the wet paper and allows them to run into each other to create a watercolour effect.