Bead. The raised line of thread found along endbands, caused by the twisting and reversing of the sewing direction.
Bifolium. A sheet of paper (or vellum) folded once, forming two sheets joined at the fold (or joint).
Blind. Decorative impressions made by a tool (stamp or fillet) without using gold foil or coloring.
Clasp. In general terms a clasp refers to the mechanism that helps to close bindings with wood boards. In this broad sense "clasp" refers to catchplate, clasp strap, strap anchor, and clasp. Specifically, the clasp is the piece of metal found at the end of the clasp strap that "clasps" onto the catchplates; also known as the hasp.
Catchplate. See Clasp.
Clasp Strap. See Clasp.
Cord. Pieces linen or hemp twine.
Dischi. A small circular decoration made by punching a hole in covering leather, filling the hole with gesso, and stamping the gesso. Dischi, common in Italian Renaisance bindings, were often gilt or colored.
Endband. The sewn band attached to the head or tail of a book (thus headband and tailband).
Endpapers (endsheets). The leaves added by the binder at the beginning and end of a book. Simple endpapers are those with conjugate pastedown and flyleaf (or conjugate flyleaves) sewn to the sewing supports. Stub endpapers may or may not have conjugate pastedown and flyleaves; their identifying characteristic is a folded edge that is wrapped around the initial (or final) gatherings of a textblock.
Fastenings. Clasps or ties that help to close a volume.
Finishing. Various tasks such as tooling and attaching clasps that complete the decorated volume. Flyleaves. Leaves at the beginning and end of a book (normally blank); the free part of the endpapers that helps to protect the textblock.
Forwarding. Various tasks such as sewing, trimming, preparing and attaching boards, fitting leather, that complete the functional but undecorated text.
Gatherings. Groups of interleaved, folded sheets sewn as a unit to the supports. The number of interleaved sheets was commonly five (said to be "gathering in tens," i.e. ten pages) or six ("gathering in twelves").
Halfbound. A book which has the spine and approximately one half of each board covered with covering material.
Infill lining. Linings made from a variety of materials (alum-tawed skin, parchment, leather, textile, and, perhaps, paper) that are affixed to spine panels. They do not cover the sewing supports and do not extend beyond the width of the spine. Infill linings seem to have been used to support the covering material or to reinforce the spine.
Joint. The fold of a sheet, or the meeting of the covering board and spine.
Kermes dyed. Alum-tawed skin dyed pink/red is said to be kermes dyed, named after the kermes insect that, dried and crushed, had been an early source of this color. During the period of this study other materials were also used to produce this color.
Kettle Stitch. The direction of sewing reverses as the binder attaches one gathering after another. The kettle is that hole on the joint of a gathering, between the outer sewing support and the top or bottom edge, where the sewing reverses on itself. The bead produced at the kettle stitch, running the width of spine, is often visible beneath the covering leather.
Parchment. A hard yet flexible material made from goat, sheep, or calf skin which has been soaked, limed, and de-haired, then stretched onto a drying frame, scraped and dried. The relationship between parchment and vellum is much debated. In this catalogue, parchment (as opposed to vellum) refers to material prepared for writing purposes; it was not used primarily as sturdy and protective binding material.
Pastedown. The parchment or paper sheet pasted to the inside of the cover by the binder, often but not always conjugate with the flyleaf.
Roundel. A small circular impression, usually a ring with an open center, used as a decorative stamp on leather bindings.
Quarterbound. A book which has the spine and approximately one quarter of each board covered with covering material.
Stationer. A retailer of bound texts, commonly manuscripts made to order.
Strap. A piece of alum-tawed skin or leather that is clearly wider than it is thick. Used (slit or unslit) for sewing supports.
Strap anchor. See Clasp.
Thong. A narrow piece of alum-tawed skin or leather with thickness and width approximately equivalent. Used as single-thongs and double-thongs for sewing supports and for endband cores.
Tiedown. Threads--part of the initial endband sewing--that extend down to the kettle stitch and help to secure the endband to the textblock.
Tiedown lining. Linings found only at head and tail panels that cover the width of the spine but not the entire panel. Endbands tie down to the kettle stitch over, not through these linings. We have identified lining materials including alumªtawed skin, vellum, and leather.
Transverse spine lining. Linings that cover the spine between sewing supports and that extend beyond the width of the spine onto to the exterior, or more commonly the interior of the boards. The linings are frequently made from reused parchment manuscript, less frequently from paper or even textile.
Vellum. A hard yet flexible material made from goat, sheep, or calf skin which has been soaked, limed, and de-haired, then stretched onto a drying frame, scraped and dried. In this catalogue, vellum (as opposed to parchment) refers to thick, sturdy material meant for binding purposes, not primarily for writing upon.
The Opening | Brief introduction to Ms. Latin 13 |
How Ms. Latin 13 was bound | Ms. Latin 13 described |
Scholarship | Glossary |
Meditation on Ms. Latin 13 | Stockton's Homepage |