Miscellaneous > The Sallyport

Medieval book covers

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Sir Edward:

Obviously during the Medieval period, books weren't cheap and abundant like today. Prior to the Gutenberg press, they had to be painstakingly copied or written by hand. They were expensive, and rarely did any given book (other than the bible) have more than a handful of copies made, and usually at great expense. Books were sometimes rented out, for the purposes of copying.

Many books as such had to have durable covers, and often would be given ornate ones in the process (with tooled leather, inlaid stones, metal appliances, etc). Frequently they'd have latches or straps to keep them closed. Here are some examples I found with some basic googling:

Sir Edward:

And more:

Sir Edward:

And a blog article about why medieval books were so big (or not):

http://www.gotmedieval.com/2010/08/why-are-books-so-big-google-penance.html

Sir William:
I've seen some leatherworking sites that offer custom covers for books...can't recall where I'd seen that, I was searching out a kostrel maker at the time.  lol

Sir Brian:
Don't forget about the Codex Gigas!  ;)

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