First edition. Comprehensive catalogue of French blind-stamped bookbindings done "à froid," or without heated tools, from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries from the collection of the Bibliothèque Mazarine. The heart of this library was the personal collection of Cardinal Mazarin who bequeathed it to the newly formed collège Mazarin or the Quatres Nations with the stipulation that the volumes be available to the public two days a week. Now, as part of the Institut de France, the spirit of his request still benefits scholars from all over the world. Each of the six hundred entries in Volume one is accompanied by a pencil rubbing from the cover of the book being described. The Phironze K. Randeria copy with his bookplate on free endpaper of each volume.