This is the first time that many of these bindings have been shown and photographed Features specialist writers from the UK, France and Spain The exhibition that this book accompanied, took place in April 2012, bringing together two hundred and fifty bound volumes selected from Spain's National Heritage collections, making up an exceptional and unrepeatable exhibition of these astonishing works of art. These are works that were created for the monarch's own use, beginning in the days of Charles V and Philip II, offering us a marvellous insight into the Royal Libraries of the House of Hapsburg and the House of Bourbon. We also come across items from a number of extraordinary complete collections that were treasured by conspicuous patrons and ending up by enriching the King's library, thus endowing the Crown with the enormous intellectual prestige enjoyed by their owners for having gathered together such works. Contents: La encuadernacin, lenguaje artstico - Vctor Nieto Alcalde Lo humilde entre lo egregio - Carlos Clavera Claves evolutivas de la encuadernacin herldica de Patrimonio Nacional Valentn - Moreno Gallego Libros para leer. Encuadernaciones comerciales en pergamino y papel en la poca de la imprenta manual - Nicholas Pickwoad Diego Hurtado de Mendoza - Anthony Hobson Tres aspectos de la encuadernacin francesa en las colecciones patrimoniales - Isabelle De Conihout and Pascal Ract-Madoux Encuadernaciones bodonianas - Pedro Ctedra Eadem sed aliter: uniformidad y singularidad en la encuadernacin de Cmara - Mara Luisa Lpez-Vidriero De la industria al arte. Dos cambios de siglo en la encuadernacin de la Real Biblioteca - Dolores Bald Bibliografa temtica de la encuadernacin en Espaa (siglos xix-xxi): historiografa de sus estudios contemporneos Concha Lois