Our new Golden Trefoil design is inspired by a 16th-century French binding that originally housed a printing of the Opera Omnia, or “complete works,” of Giovanni Pontano (1426–1503).
The design, thought to be created by Claude de Picques, features a classic trefoil (clover) motif, popularly found in some of the world’s most iconic logos, crests, insignias and flags. Today it can be found in the Davis Collection of antique bindings at the British Library.
Pontano was a poet and humanist from central Italy whose writing is celebrated for its appreciation of married life and fatherhood. He led the first modern academy of learning, the Accademia Pontaniana, which still exists today. Pontano rose from nothing to become the trusted friend and advisor to Alfonso the Magnanimous (Alfonso V of Aragon).
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time the work of a close confidant of Alfonso’s has come to the Paperblanks collection. Our Venetian Mornings series reproduced the binding of a treaty written by Jean Courtois, the King’s Sicily Herald.
Golden Trefoil is available as:
- Ultra, midi and mini journals; lined and unlined
- Slim journal; lined
- Guest book; lined and unlined
