Cover binding
Case Binding denotes a common in the Middle Ages the form of an embedded book , the cover material was not folded over at the edges and attached, but also extends beyond it. So the book could be wrapped in it. Sometimes a second was even added to protect the first shell. In order to make it as easy as possible to fold it in, the cover material for the cover was usually very soft leather ( suede ), but sometimes also fabric or velvet.
use
The medieval cover binding was initially only intended for small books that the owner always carried with him. The cover served to protect the sensitive book cuts on the trip. Later, however, in the 15th and 16th centuries, technically comparable constructions were also used to protect large tomes . Here the book mostly stayed in the same place, but in this way it could also be protected from damage to the possibly preciously decorated cuts. A comparable form is still common today in English prayer and hymn books, but here it has a decorative rather than preservative function.
As with the paperback books , which differ from the jacket covers in that the cover material was only lengthened at the undercut, very few copies have survived. Since many medieval representations point to a greater distribution, it is assumed that later, when the books were no longer in constant use and space-saving storage became more important than the original function of the cover binding, the protruding material was often simply cut off.
literature
- Friedrich-Adolf Schmidt-Künsemüller: cover tape . In: Severin Corsten (Ed.): Lexicon of the entire book system . Volume 3, Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1991, ISBN 3-7772-9136-6 , pp. 545f.
- H. Schreiber: book pouch and cover volumes. In: Archives for the book trade . 76, 1939, pp. 492-496.
- Jean Loubier: The book cover. 2nd Edition. Hermann Seemann, Leipzig 1926, pp. 95–98.
Web links
- A cover made of velvet (picture and description in English)