It dates to 1644 and is a book of psalms. I'm intrigued by the clasps - the idea of securing the contents of the book, and the ritual of opening it.More embroidered book covers, from the British Library's database of bookbindings, can be seen here.
It dates to 1644 and is a book of psalms. I'm intrigued by the clasps - the idea of securing the contents of the book, and the ritual of opening it.
This reminds me of a bit of information I picked up at that book as art exhibit recently. Timothy Ely as he recounts the history of different forms of books notes that the pages in the earliest books would swell from changes in humidity, so it was necessary to have some kind of clasp closure to keep them from splaying open. When you were ready to read, you would simply squeeze the book to release the clasp!
ReplyDelete