Book fitting
Book fittings refer to metal elements which, preferably in the Middle Ages , were applied to the book cover to protect the binding material . The term usually comprised several links. Fittings around all four corners of the lid and in the middle of the lid, reinforced by so-called humps or buttons, were common. More rarely, metal rails were used to protect the edges or frames for the title plates. Even the iron chains with which the libri catenati in libraries were protected from theft or damage are usually summed up under this term. Book closing, however, does not count.
history
Fittings were mainly a phenomenon of medieval wooden cover bindings. Since books were often stored horizontally well into the 16th century, the cover material (usually leather ) permanently rubbed the support surface, which permanently damaged the cover and reduced the value of the cover . Fittings were therefore used to create slightly raised contact surfaces and thus prevent the sensitive cover material from touching the base.
The simplest type of fittings were nails with thickened heads (humps), which were attached in each corner and in the middle of the lid. Initially relatively small and flat, in the 15th century they became larger, rounder and in some cases even decorated with drifting or chasing . Flat corner fittings and center pieces with larger areas were soon added, which, in addition to their protective function, also increasingly played a decorative role. Mostly diamond-shaped in the corners, the middle fitting could be made in any shape. It was not just the luxury bindings that experienced an additional increase in value through engraving , breakthrough work, chasing and driving work. For bibliophile velvet bindings of the late Middle Ages, however, the fittings were often the only decoration and were accordingly designed particularly artfully.
With the advent of cardboard lids in the Renaissance , the use of fittings eventually declined. The standing storage made the protective function increasingly superfluous, fittings were only used as jewelry for a while. Especially in the 19th century, book fittings were recreated in the course of historicist designs in the area of the publisher's cover . The focus here was less on protecting the binding than on the design aspect.
Today you can still find beer nails on Kommers books , which are supposed to protect the book from liquids on the table when lying down, and simple book corners made of sheet metal on stressed utility books such as address and diaries . The corner protection on file folders can also be interpreted as a form of hardware.
Material and manufacture
Usually fittings were made of brass or iron. For magnificent manuscripts, however, special silver or gold-plated copies were also made as custom-made items. In contrast to most other decorative processes for book covers, this work was not in the hands of the bookbinder . Instead, it was metal workers, initially Gürtler , but from the mid-16th century at the latest, so-called cloister makers , who made the fittings. Most of them were produced as commodities and widely exported, which limited the influence of bookbinders on the design. It is also this lack of individuality that has so far not allowed cover research to draw any major conclusions about the place and time of a specific cover simply by studying the fittings. In many cases, they are no longer available today anyway, as they were a hindrance when setting up on the shelf and were subsequently removed again.
literature
- Margret Jaschke and Robert Stähle: Precious binding fittings on Armenian manuscripts: Documentation of the most recent measures for preservation , Wiesbaden: Reichert, L, 2015, ISBN 978-3-95490-053-4 .
- Georg Adler: manual book closure and book fitting. Terminology and history in German-speaking countries, the Netherlands and Italy from the early Middle Ages to the present. Reichert, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-89500-752-1 .
- Eike Barbara Dürrfeld: Research into book clasps and book fittings. An analysis of the history of science since 1877. Dissertation, Mainz 2002, online (PDF; 12.78 MB) .
- Hellmuth Helwig: Introduction to Binding. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1970, ISBN 3-7772-7008-3 , p. 36f.
- Helmut Hiller, Stephan Füssel: Dictionary of the book. 6th fundamentally revised edition. Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt am Main 2002, ISBN 3-465-03495-3 , p. 60.
- Otto Mazal : Binding customer. The history of the book cover (= elements of the book and library system 16). Ludwig Reichert Verlag, Wiesbaden 1997, ISBN 3-88226-888-3 , p. 23f.
- Claus Maywald: The book closures, book fittings and other metal parts on the book. The terminology. Wiegner, Königswinter 2005, ISBN 3-931775-10-0 .
- Claus Maywald, Damir Milicevic, Inge Domes: book clasps, book fittings and other metal parts on the book. Systematics and terminology. Fröhlich Verlag, Rossdorf 2010, ISBN 978-3-938397-06-0 .
- Friedrich-Adolf Schmidt-Künsemüller: Book fittings. In: Severin Corsten (Ed.): Lexicon of the entire book system. Volume 1: A-book. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-7772-8721-0 , pp. 573-574.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Binding to Schiller, Friedrich: Schillers Gedichte, anniversary edition, 1859-1862. Retrieved October 9, 2017 .