Doublures are ornamental linings on the inside of a book. Doublures are protected from wear, compared to the outside of a book, and thus offer bookbinders scope for elaborate decoration.
The 15th-century Islamic doublures strongly influenced the doublures in Western Europe.[1]
The term doublure is of French origin. Tooled doublures are found in French bookbinding of the seventeenth century:[2] in particular, they are associated with the books of the Jansenist sect, which were extremely simple on the outside, while they had gilding on the doublure.[3] One of the bookbinders known for his Jansenist-style bindings was Luc-Antoine Boyet, binder to Louis XIV. The term Jansenist is also applied to bindings in this style of a much later date.[4]
The British bookbinder G.T. Bagguley patented a process for tooling in colours called the "Sutherland binding" which was principally employed on doublures.[5] Bagguley, who was librarian to the Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, named the process after the duchess.