Copert
As Kopert or Copert (over copert from Latin coopertorium : the veil, the covering) or liber sine asseribus is a flexible book cover made of parchment , leather or textile that was used from the Middle Ages to the early modern period .
Binding technology
The layers of a copert were usually connected by chain stitch or long stitch stitching , later also less often on the drawer , but never with the use of adhesives. A special form that emerged in the 14th century was additionally reinforced by leather, wood or horn inlays in the back. By stapling the cover, patterns were created on the outside that were later often interpreted as decorative, but this has not been proven as a specific intention. In contrast to the leather-covered wooden lid band of the Middle Ages, copertas were otherwise not decorated. Often the binding material was at the back extended to a flap that could be turned over and closed in various ways.
history
A few surviving specimens in Egyptian monasteries prove that the Copts were already familiar with and used coperts as an independent type of binding. However, they did not become widely used until the Carolingian era. Since the 12th century there have been increasing references in library catalogs that identify copert as an independent form in addition to the wooden cover volumes and use terms such as sine asseribus or coopertorium . Estimates assume a share of up to 20% of the total work done during this period. Since a Kopert binding proved to be unsuitable for placing in bookshelves, it was later often replaced by a sturdy binding in libraries. In archives, however, where the large number of books often only allowed a small number of books to be re-bound, numerous copies can still be found today. A particularly sensational find is from the 7./8. Century with the Faddan More Psalter from Ireland.
function
According to a thesis by Maren Mau-Pieper, the function of the copert can possibly be explained by its content, which can always be assigned to the utility literature. It could be legal texts, sermon and edification texts , statutes or even texts for personal use. On the one hand, the copert served to protect the writing during reading and transport, but on the other hand it also characterizes the value of what is written as not final. Mau-Pieper suggests a kind of hierarchy of bindings, starting with the booklet as the most ephemeral variant up to the completed work, which was firmly bound in wooden cover volumes. The copert, as an intermediate form, therefore played a securing but not yet binding role.
literature
- Agnes Scholla: Libri sine asseribus. On the binding technique, form and content of medieval coperts from the 8th to 14th centuries. Dissertation, Leiden 2001.
- Friedrich-Adolf Schmidt-Künsemüller: Kopert. In: Severin Corsten (Ed.): Lexicon of the entire book system. Vol. 4. Hiersemann, Stuttgart 1995. ISBN 3-7772-9501-9 .
- Maren Mau-Pieper: Koperte as a binding for utility documents in the Middle Ages and early modern times . Tübingen, 2005; here [1] as pdf full text; 4.01 MB with illustrations.
Individual evidence
- ^ Karin Schneider : Paleography and manuscript studies for Germanists. An introduction. Tübingen 1999 (= collection of short grammars of Germanic dialects. Volume 8), p. 173 (“little book in a copert”).