Loading…
12
Found out from a 1970s library manual that medieval binders used to line spines with old manuscript scraps, and now I can't stop checking my own boards
I picked up a reprint of a library conservation manual from 1974 at a yard sale in Ann Arbor last month, and one line in the spine lining chapter caught me off guard. The author wrote that scraps of older manuscripts show up inside the boards and spines of medieval bindings all the time, because binders grabbed whatever parchment was cheap and close at hand. I had always pictured those shops saving every scrap on purpose, but it sounds like it was just a supply chain thing, like grabbing offcuts from the bin. Now I keep looking at my own shelf of practice books and wondering whether any of my leftover paste paper or linen strips will end up confusing someone in 500 years. Does anyone here ever tuck dated scraps or notes inside your boards on purpose, and if so, what do you write on them?
1 comments
Log in to join the discussion
Log In1 Comment
derek_bell17d ago
The supply chain angle doesn't hold up though. Medieval binders were working in shops where parchment was still expensive, and waste not want not was the whole deal. If they were just grabbing random scraps, you'd see the same texts over and over in bindings from the same region, but what we actually find is wild variety, everything from old church music to household lists. That points to binders saving whatever came through the door on purpose, not just snagging bin scraps.
8