Szirmai, John - The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding
Szirmai, John - The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding Szirmai, John - The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding
M 633 M 634 M 580 1 M 586 I h — 1 — —I 1 M 569 1 1 1 r — ~ 1 f 1 I ' ' 1 1 I 50 mm Figure 3.2 Disposition of the sewing stations of five Hamuli codices (PML). Coptic codex still in its original binding (Petersen 1948 Part IV, no. 73; 338 x 245 mm, 10 parchment quires), where each quire had a tacket of a rolled strip of used parchment, passing through holes in the centrefold at a distance of 35 to 40 mm and tied with a simple knot on the spinefold. 5 Only because the binder did not care to remove the tackets when sewing the quires, a practice frequently encountered in later periods, are we fortunate to know of such quire tacketing. The nature of the sewing thread has not received much attention: Adam (1923-4 p. 23) casually mentions remnants of heavy and tightly twisted flax [?] in an unspecified Berlin fragment. The sewing thread of several of the Hamuli codices (both S- and Z-twist) has a diameter of c. 1 mm. The thread in Leiden RMO MS Anast. 9, 6 a seventh-century papyrus codex (215 x 145 mm, three sewing stations), is of vegetable material and has a diameter of about 1.2 mm and a four-ply Z-twist. The centrefold is protected by a fulllength guard of parchment as often employed in papyrus codices (Figure 3.3). Such inner guards have also been observed in fragments of Coptic bindings in the Berlin collections by Adam (1923-4). 3.3 BOARDS AND THEIR ATTACHMENT The covers of the codices appear to be connected to the bookblock by means of hinging loops, made of the same thread as used for sewing and wound several times around the spine edge of the board through holes c. 20-30 mm from the edge, as shown in Petersen's drawing (see Figure 3.1). There are several ways of constructing such a set of hinging loops; three of them are shown in Figure 3.4. In [a], the thread is carried from one set of holes to the next along the board edge, in [b], the connecting thread lies between the set of holes, while in [c], the thread yields an oblique or zigzag pattern. The roughness with which
3.3 Boards and their attachment 35 Figure 3.3 Sewing thread (arrow) partly protruding from the parchment guard in the centrefold of the second quire (pp. 20-1) of the seventh-century Leiden RMO MS Anast. 9. the boards of the Hamuli codices were separated from their contents did not allow Petersen either to decide in each case which method was used, or to be sure whether fitting the boards with the hinging loops was done before or during sewing. In the first case, the prepared hinging loops in the board serve as anchors to make the links when sewing the first quire; in the second case, one starts with making the hinging loops in the board opposite the first sewing station, enters the quire from there with the thread, exits at the second sewing station, makes the hinging loop in the board, re-enters and proceeds to the next sewing station, etc. Differences in the thread structure of the hinges and sewing distinguishes one operation from the other. Virtually all boards of late Coptic codices are made of papyrus. A number of sheets are pasted together and pressed into a solid substance; mostly reused sheets of papyrus were employed, only occasionally new sheets (c. 20 of the Hamuli codices had boards made from old manuscripts). Yet Petersen (1948 p. 46) mentions boards of thick strips or parts of papyrus pith or peelings of the outer skin of the stalk; other boards seem to contain flax straw, clippings of used parchment, scraps of linen or leather. Adam (1923-4 pp. 21, 63) found such materials woven into a lattice and further suggested that moulds had been used to make boards. Laminated parchment boards have been recorded in one case (see note 5). Usually the boards have a thickness of 6 to 18 mm and are covered after hinging (Figure 3.5[a]). Double boards were found on PML M 569, M 570, M 574, M 575 and M 672d (Petersen 1948 pp. 59-60, fig. 35), P. Berol. 14018 (Adam 1923-4 p. 32) and BL Or. 5000 (D. Cockerell 1932 p. 10). Usually the inner boards are attached to the bookblock by
- Page 2 and 3: Contents Preface and acknowledgemen
- Page 4 and 5: Contents vii 7.8 Covering and decor
- Page 6 and 7: Preface and acknowledgements This b
- Page 8 and 9: Preface and acknowledgements XI (Ve
- Page 10 and 11: Preface and acknowledgements xiii S
- Page 12 and 13: Abbreviations Dates are abbreviated
- Page 14 and 15: Part I The Mediterranean heritage
- Page 16 and 17: surmise e sUentio: for too long its
- Page 18 and 19: decorated book covers have been fou
- Page 20 and 21: Figure 1.2 Diagram of tire construc
- Page 22 and 23: 'spine' see Chapter 2, note 3). The
- Page 24 and 25: gefunden sein mussté' (Schmidt 189
- Page 26 and 27: 5. The roman numerals refer to the
- Page 28 and 29: 16 The first multi-quire Coptic cod
- Page 30 and 31: extended link stitch (Gnirrep and S
- Page 32 and 33: Figure 2.2 Spine of the sixth-centu
- Page 34 and 35: A B C Figure 2.4 Two alternative me
- Page 36 and 37: Figure 2.5 The upper cover and back
- Page 38 and 39: pristine condition is the back cove
- Page 40 and 41: 307 fig. 24, p. 319 fig. 74). Sever
- Page 42 and 43: [a] pastedown [b] Figure 2.10 Two d
- Page 44 and 45: Chapter 3 Late Coptic codices 3.1 I
- Page 48 and 49: Figure 3.4 Various types of hinging
- Page 50 and 51: separately from the book and before
- Page 52 and 53: and 6.13). It should finally be men
- Page 54 and 55: Figure 3.10 Peg and strap fastening
- Page 56 and 57: 7. This double board of BL Or. 5000
- Page 58 and 59: 4.2 SEWING AND BOARD ATTACHMENT The
- Page 60 and 61: truly time-consuming procedure whic
- Page 62 and 63: elevant corners of the boards. Yet
- Page 64 and 65: tective boxes and even repairing wo
- Page 66 and 67: may be done by several methods: one
- Page 68 and 69: the former attachment and all evide
- Page 70 and 71: ands (Figure 5.4) was ar first a pu
- Page 72 and 73: locks of incised leather that obvio
- Page 74 and 75: Chapter 6 Byzantine codices 6.1 INT
- Page 76 and 77: and Sonderkamp (1991). Geographical
- Page 78 and 79: tional station (shown as a broken l
- Page 80 and 81: figure 6.3 Bulky chains of lhe exte
- Page 82 and 83: and the making of the hinging loops
- Page 84 and 85: Figure 6.6 Variants of the zigzag h
- Page 86 and 87: outer face inner face Figure 6.8 V-
- Page 88 and 89: in many cases, writing or decoratio
- Page 90 and 91: Figure 6.12 Construction of a singl
- Page 92 and 93: [a] 40.0 tbi 5.3 |c] 11.6 LdJ 10.5
- Page 94 and 95: [a] [b] [c] [d] Figure 6.15 Fasteni
M 633<br />
M 634<br />
M 580<br />
1<br />
M 586<br />
I h — 1 — —I<br />
1<br />
M 569<br />
1<br />
1 1 r — ~ 1 f<br />
1<br />
I ' '<br />
1 1<br />
I<br />
50 mm<br />
Figure 3.2<br />
Disposition <strong>of</strong> the sewing stations <strong>of</strong> five Hamuli codices (PML).<br />
Coptic codex still in its original binding (Petersen 1948 Part IV, no. 73; 338 x 245 mm, 10<br />
parchment quires), where each quire had a tacket <strong>of</strong> a rolled strip <strong>of</strong> used parchment,<br />
passing through holes in the centrefold at a distance <strong>of</strong> 35 to 40 mm and tied with a simple<br />
knot on the spinefold. 5<br />
Only because the binder did not care to remove the tackets when<br />
sewing the quires, a practice frequently encountered in later periods, are we fortunate to<br />
know <strong>of</strong> such quire tacketing.<br />
<strong>The</strong> nature <strong>of</strong> the sewing thread has not received much attention: Adam (1923-4<br />
p. 23) casually mentions remnants <strong>of</strong> heavy and tightly twisted flax [?] in an unspecified<br />
Berlin fragment. <strong>The</strong> sewing thread <strong>of</strong> several <strong>of</strong> the Hamuli codices (both S- and Z-twist)<br />
has a diameter <strong>of</strong> c. 1 mm. <strong>The</strong> thread in Leiden RMO MS Anast. 9, 6<br />
a seventh-century<br />
papyrus codex (215 x 145 mm, three sewing stations), is <strong>of</strong> vegetable material and has a<br />
diameter <strong>of</strong> about 1.2 mm and a four-ply Z-twist. <strong>The</strong> centrefold is protected by a fulllength<br />
guard <strong>of</strong> parchment as <strong>of</strong>ten employed in papyrus codices (Figure 3.3). Such inner<br />
guards have also been observed in fragments <strong>of</strong> Coptic bindings in the Berlin collections by<br />
Adam (1923-4).<br />
3.3 BOARDS AND THEIR ATTACHMENT<br />
<strong>The</strong> covers <strong>of</strong> the codices appear to be connected to the bookblock by means <strong>of</strong> hinging<br />
loops, made <strong>of</strong> the same thread as used for sewing and wound several times around the<br />
spine edge <strong>of</strong> the board through holes c. 20-30 mm from the edge, as shown in Petersen's<br />
drawing (see Figure 3.1). <strong>The</strong>re are several ways <strong>of</strong> constructing such a set <strong>of</strong> hinging<br />
loops; three <strong>of</strong> them are shown in Figure 3.4. In [a], the thread is carried from one set <strong>of</strong><br />
holes to the next along the board edge, in [b], the connecting thread lies between the set <strong>of</strong><br />
holes, while in [c], the thread yields an oblique or zigzag pattern. <strong>The</strong> roughness with which
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