A few years ago, I "met" with a friend at a Western ancient book fair, and my friend was interested in the "new field" where he was not deeply involved. Seeing that I have no enthusiasm for the so-called "cradle book" promoted by exhibitors, my friend doubted the purpose of the trip. "I'm curious if the 'furniture' in a few books is special." "Furniture?" The friend asked, "Do you mean the old bookcase?" ”
Medieval Western book cover
"No." I explained, "I haven't seen a more accurate Chinese translated name, which is simply understood, it is a buckle on a book or something like that." "While waiting for the staff to pick up the book, a similar situation that happened many years ago flashed through my mind.
At that time, I went to visit a senior bibliophile in California, and after the greeting, the bibliophile allowed me to casually look through his half-century collection in his study. As I was intrigued by the two beautifully bound autographs he had placed on the couch, I vaguely heard him say, "I recommend you come and see the book over here." I especially like those 'furniture'. "My first reaction was similar to that of a friend, thinking that the bibliophile was proud to introduce his antique bookcase. Seeing that my reaction was a little perfunctory, and did not mean to open the bookcases, the bibliophile who had passed the flower armor but was in good spirits showed a look of incomprehension. I responded that the "furniture" he called was not a bookcase, a bookshelf, or a "rotating bookshelf", but something like the "accessories" that were common in Spanish books before and after the Middle Ages.
Forgotten book accessories
The so-called "fittings" of these books, needless to say, are also areas of concern for a few people in China, even abroad. They are too far away from modern books. Even in professional books on Western binding, the word "furniture" may be difficult to see, and some books may briefly mention "claps" (buckle) or "ties" (tie).
Buckles, bosses, and other accessories, often referred to as furniture, are book-binding components (fittings) that existed in the age of the book. However, based on these components are less interesting areas and there is no more accurate or rigorous definition or classification.
1380 Anthem Collection, made in Italy, in the collection of the V&A Museum in England
Buckles were a common and necessary accessory in medieval books. Most manuscripts at that time were written on parchment, and changes in temperature and humidity easily led to wrinkles and deformations. In order to keep the leaves of the book core flat, the wooden board cover with buckles becomes an important aspect of the binding. Early Books in the West were small in number, heavy in weight and volume, and before people used to put the spines of books facing outwards and upright on the shelves, books were basically flat. In order to prevent the book from being flat on the cover and the wear of the book, the cover of the book at that time was equipped with a boss and skids.
In recent years, based on the function of the fittings, there have been views that "book fittings" have been further divided into two categories: one is "fastenings", the main role is to facilitate the closure of books; the other is "furnishings", mainly used to protect the cover from wear and damage. Among them, the so-called fixture is the buckle; the so-called protective gear includes the dome (domed boss or boss), circular plate, polygonal plate, corner piece, binding strip, book chain (chain), folded composite. Among them, the more well-known should be the "book chain".
Chain Book: An ancient book with "shackles"
In the era before the advent of printing, books were all manuscripts, and production was done by hand, which was particularly precious. In churches, monasteries, and universities, these manuscripts were often locked to bookshelves or desks. This involves a particularly significant book protection measure in the history of Western ancient book collection, chained books, which is simply understood to lock books with chains.
Miscellaneous Theology collections of theology in the early 15th century, German system, in the library of Cornell University
There are three forms of protection against book theft in the Middle Ages: chains, chests, and curses (chained books, chests, and curses, the English word with the first letter C, derided as "Book Protector 3C"). Libraries that store books in the form of chained books are called chained libraries. From the Middle Ages to the 18th century, chain books were the most extensive and effective book security system in European libraries. In european and American films and television related to the Middle Ages, the scene of chain books also appeared from time to time. Book boxes, that is, boxes for storing books, some book boxes will be equipped with chains, and some are just wooden cabinets containing one or more locks. The so-called curse, that is, the curse of book thieves will suffer bad luck, such as hanging, drowning, burns and so on.
Few chain libraries still exist today, and the world's largest chain book library is located in the Hereford Cathedral Library in the United Kingdom. The Chain Book of the Hereford Church Library is still preserved in the original chain and key system. The library's chain books span between 1611 and 1841, and through them we can glimpse the use of chain books at that time.
Hereford Church Library
One end of the chain on the book is on the cover of the book, and the other end is inserted into the inside of each shelf. The chain is long enough for the user to place the book on the desk, but not away from the bookcase. Chain books are on the shelves when the mouth of the book is facing outwards, rather than the modern spine facing outward, so that it can be directly accessed, without flipping the spine, and there will be no disturbing chains.
When binding chain books, they are generally equipped with an accessory called "book legs", because at that time the books were not flipped flat, but almost vertically placed to flip through, such as on the lecterns (also referred to as vertical desks, etc.), with the "book legs" to avoid the wear and tear at the root. This accessory does not have a special standard English name, the name has "feet", "shoes" and "heels", which is distinguished from the related names of the Chinese, "book root" and "ground foot", so it is translated as "book leg".
The "book leg" of the chain book, 11th century system, the library of the University of Leiden
The shape, material and craftsmanship of the buckle
The buckle on the binding, originally appeared to keep the parchment manuscript flat. Parchment is sensitive to temperature and humidity, and framers have found that installing a wooden cover and buckle on the core can act as a flattener and help keep the core flat.
The buckle part consists of several components. The most common are buckles, straps, slots. The straps can be cut to the right length as needed and fixed to the cover with anchor plates or anchor pins. The slot is placed on another cover (not necessarily the back cover) so that when the book is closed, the buckle works.
Medieval book buckles are mainly divided into two types: one is to install a wedge, there is a joint with a hole, and may also use a bond to secure the bond; the other is to install a hook, and the other side is equipped with a slot, with a long strip to clamp or hook the slot. Buckles with wedges existed as late as the 12th century; hook buckles appeared in the 15th and 16th centuries, and they appeared in the late Middle Ages, but were likely more popular in the 16th century.
Some articles have been classified according to the structure and characteristics of buckles, buckles with wedges are divided into seven types, and buckles with hooks are divided into four types: hinged plate and loop, composite with looped spacer, hooked fishtail, hooked rectangular, and hooked all-metal), Anchor-/catch-plate, Double rectangular, Folded, one piece, looped rectangular, pin and base-plate. Ancient books with wedge four-square bracket buckles are often only square brackets. A set of buckles, often decorated with patterns or letters, and some also have delicate animal-shaped designs. However, regardless of the shape of the buckle, the components on both sides of the buckle must mesh to keep the book closed and ironed. The material and decorative style of the original buckle are often the same.
Fishtail hook buckle
One-piece set buckle
According to its shape, the boss can be divided into: circular boss, round with 3 or 4 pieces of tabs, square bay, square support with 4 pieces of duct, triangle bay, polygonal boss and so on. According to its shape, the Circular plate can be divided into round, five-leaf, six-leaf and so on. Sometimes, the use of accessories on a book can also serve as a clue to the original frame of the book. For example, the boss, circular, semi-circular boss is more common, flat bottom boss is usually found in Italian and German binding. For some reasons, it is not very popular for British book binding to be on the boss.
Judging the age of buckles, the original buckles of books are generally consistent with the binding date of the book as a whole, but because the leather bond is easy to wear, they are often repaired or replaced. At this point, there will be a new buckle installation or an old, precious buckle re-installed on a new book. Therefore, the original buckle is very useful for determining the date.
The buckles of medieval books found in London are concentrated in the late 14th and 15th centuries, and elsewhere in England are concentrated in the early and mid-16th centuries. Many books were destroyed during the Reformation, which led to the appearance of many old book fixtures on 16th-century books. In this way, the printing date of the book core is different from the date of manufacture of the book accessory.
Collection of Songs of Lombardy Mass, mid-15th century, northern Italy, in the library of Cornell University
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the most common material for buckles was brass. A considerable number of buckle shapes and decorative patterns are eye-catching. Some buckles are made by binding shops, but blacksmith shops also sell many buckle accessories. In addition to the main material, there are auxiliary materials, taking the late Middle Ages as an example, the material is mainly copper, but the decorative materials are gold (for gilding), brown varnish (vernis brun), enamel, etc.; the decorative process is mainly engraving, punching /embossing patterns or ornaments, molded decoration and flower characters.
The art-historical characteristics of the buckle can also be used as a basis for judging its age. For example, Limoges-style enamel indicates that it is 1150-1300 years old; the embossed round hoop line may mean that the buckle is dated to the late 12th or 13th century; some can even be traced back to the 11th century by its artistic style.
There are regional differences in the style and composition of accessories such as buckles, and regional differences in buckle decoration can also be used as a clue to recognize the original frame of the book. In Central Europe, it is traditional to attach two buckles to the front of the book. In southern Europe, especially in Italy, at least two buckles are often installed, sometimes four, two at the front of the book, and the other two at the top and the root of the book. German bindings tend to have slots on the front cover and straps on the back cover. The binding in Britain and Italy is usually the opposite of the German one. In addition to the front mouth, Italian binding often has buckles on the top and root of the book.
Mid-15th century Book of Blessings, German, in the cornell university library
Later development of book fittings
With the development and spread of papermaking and printing, paper began to replace parchment (made of animal leather), and this process of change continued to develop until the post-medieval period. Paper is flatter than parchment, so a buckle to ensure a smooth core is less necessary; the cover of a paper book is often made of cardboard, which does not stabilize nails and rivets to install buckles and brackets like wooden cover covers.
The advent of cardboard (straw cardboard and gray cardboard) has led to a lower demand for buckles as a book closure accessory. Compared to wood panels, which are used as book cover inner panels, cardboard is softer and cannot support metal rivets to install buckles and other accessories. However, cardboard is easy to perforate, and ribbons became more common as book tie in the 16th century. In addition, in the 16th century, silver book accessories were very popular, especially on private prayer books.
Silver lion-shaped buckle on the 16th-century Book of Time, made in the Southern Netherlands, in the British Library
Parchment is expensive and strong enough, and they go well with luxurious pigments and gold leaf. This pairing is also preserved in luxurious 18th-century books, such as the Bible. Perhaps due to the resurgence of Gothic culture, buckles became more common in books in the late 19th century.
It is believed that metal buckles are replaced by ties of various materials such as silk, twine, leather and so on. This view is not rigorous enough, because in ancient soft binding, the tie is the standard. Regarding the tie, there is a point similar to the buckle, the buckle is consistent with the overall style of the book, and the structure of the tie is simple, the tone is often consistent with the book cover, most of which are the same color, and occasionally the color conflicts.
(The author is an associate research librarian of the National Library of China, and his research directions are traditional culture dissemination, Chinese and foreign cultural industries, and Western binding culture.) ）