Book fixtures are almost as old as books. Archaeological remains suggest that the authors or collectors of clay tablets preserved them in a certain order. From scrolls to pamphlets, there are also a variety of storage utensils for ancient Western books. For various purposes, ancient Western books can be carried long distances or even long distances, so portable devices to protect books have emerged. The records of portable equipment in Western books can be traced back to the time of the scroll book at the latest.
Book Box: The book is hidden in the house
British archaeologist J.W. Clark Clark's study of the book collection of Herculaneum (known as the "City of Time Freeze", and Pompeii were buried by a volcanic eruption in 79 AD) provides a glimpse into the portable book holdings of the Western scroll book era. "When the scrolls are transferred from one place to another, the scrolls are packed into a box (scrinium or capsa). This container has a cylindrical shape, slightly like a modern cap box. It usually has a movable handle that is attached to the rings on both sides. After the lid is lowered, it is snapped on top of the locking structure. ”
The Riddles of the famous 7th-century scholar Aldhelm of Malmesbury (639-709) were often used in monastic schools in the early Middle Ages, and are mostly in the 9th-10th century versions. One of the verses, De arca libraria, reads: "The house of the spirit is full of holy words, and my heart carries the holy books." In a way, the book box actually bears a significant resemblance to medieval reliquary boxes, shrines or other vessels of holy bones and relics, that is, they all carry "holy relics". Bookcases such as the "Irish cumdach" or "book shrine" were often used to hold small manuscript holy books.
The Royal Irish Academy houses 8th or 9th-century niches, 15×12 centimeters in size. The Stowe Missal (sacrament) fits quite well in the box, which is well suited to the object's intended use. The books contained in the "Irish Sacred Box" were not intended for reading, but were often hung around the necks of monks who were in front of the army before the battlefield to bring good luck to the war. The sturdy book case provides maximum protection from the "secret weapon" inside, that is, the book it contains.
The book niche and the sacramental book contained in it, held by the Royal Irish Academy of Sciences
Famous niches are also the 6th or 7th-century Psalter in the collection of St. Columba. It is often considered to bring victory to war, but the size of 27×19 cm is obviously not suitable for hanging around the neck, and it is speculated that it may have been clipped under the arm and run on the battlefield. In fact, in early modern Western history, this practice of bringing books into book boxes to the battlefield was so popular that some people called it the "battlefield bible." The Royal Library of Sweden houses the 1700 edition of the "War Bible" that King Charles II of Sweden brought to the battlefield.
Charles II "Battlefield Bible", collection of the Royal Swedish Library
Bodleian Libraries at the University of Oxford purchased a rare late 15th-century book box in 2019. Although the Bodleian Library has one of the richest collections of medieval manuscripts and early printed books in the world, it was the first book coffer in the library's collection. At 8.5× 12.6×5.5 inches, this case is one of the largest known contemporaneous cases. The book box is leather wood lined with red canvas. The surface of the book box is equipped with metal hoops, hinges, and locks to protect the valuables inside. Also known as "messenger's box," this bookcase is equipped with loops on both sides that can be easily carried over the shoulder or saddled by a belt. This book box piece is both practical and devotional, and preserves an extremely rare woodcut print.
Late 15th century book box, Bodleian Library collection
Thousands of medieval codices and printed books survive, but it is thought that only 100 such boxes may have survived. According to research, this 15th-century French Gothic book box was used to store and transport religious books. The Bodleian Library also held an exhibition entitled "Finding the Truth". Through this box, the exhibition hopes to provide a deeper understanding of how books were stored, transported or used in the early days printed in Europe.
From the many book boxes collected by the Bodleian Library and other institutions, it can be seen that different styles of book boxes may carry traces of the times with different identities and different uses.
A bookbox forced into exile. Original book box of late 15th century Spanish manuscripts, wooden, six sides of the book box are wrapped in goatskin decorated with staggered geometric patterns embossed without color. The size of the book box: 35.4×29.4×15.0cm, the weight is 2.7 kg, and the total number of copies is 9.4 kg. The box contains a rare book of the Hebrew Bible, copied in 1476 in Corunna, northern Spain. Transcribed by scribe Moses Ibn Zabara for his patron, Isaac of Braga. When Spain expelled the Jews in 1492, Isaac left with the Bible. The bookcase containing the manuscript was protected in a lockable wooden suitcase decorated with molded carved leather marked with Isaac's name.
Late 15th century book box, Bodleian Library collection
Take the book box with you to sail. A map of the Portland of the Mediterranean Sea, drawn in Venice circa 1400, is pasted on a codex book with a wooden cover decorated with ivory and polychrome wood inlays. The wooden book box that holds the nautical charts, the outer layer is wrapped in leather with exquisite carvings and lettering, and on one side there is a side pocket containing the instruments. Lost equipment may be used both as a latch and as a paperweight when opening a book box and looking through a book. The size of the book box is 29.9×18.3×5.2cm, the weight is 582g, and the total number of copies is 1.4kg.
Circa 1400 book box and contained books, Bodleian Library collection
Village church style book box. The 1748 Cambridge edition of the Book of Common Prayers book box is the same as the cover material and decoration, the book box is equipped with silver buckles, the overall style is quite country church. The size of the book box is 17.6×11.3×3.9cm, the weight is 78g, and the total number of books is 456g.
1748 village church style book box with books, Bodleian Library collection
Take the book box with you to practice medicine. The Metropolitan Museum of Art has a book box made in 15th century Italy made of Cuir bouilli, measuring 16.2×16.5×4.4cm, and there is no inner plate inside. During the Norman rule of the eleventh century, southern Italy, especially Salerno and its neighboring cities, developed into a major medieval research center under Arab influence. By the twelfth century, most of the surviving medieval knowledge had been included in alphabetical compilations that formed the basis of knowledge in the later centuries of the Middle Ages. While texts such as pharmacopoeias and herbs reflect considerable scientific awareness, medical practice is still influenced by superstitions, astrological predictions, and traditional remedies. Thus, texts commonly used in the late Middle Ages were a mixture of science and fallacy information. The popular Gart der Gesundheit is a prime example, ranging from herbal remedies with medicinal properties that are still used today, to "magical" remedies such as the grated unicorn horn, which is considered a panacea. Still, these books are precious, and it is not uncommon to protect them with a proper holster. APPARENTLY THE BOX WAS TOO SMALL TO HOLD A COMPLETE HERBAL BOOK OR COMPENDIUM, BUT THE INSCRIPTION "MEDIXINA VIRTU VIVE" (MEDICINE FOR A LIVING) SUGGESTS THAT IT WAS USED TO PRESERVE SOME SOFT MEDICAL BOOKS. When doctors traveled around practicing medicine, they often tied such bookcases around their belts.
15th century book box, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
In addition, there is a type of box called a "missal box" that holds prayer books. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the New York Public Library, and the V&A Museum all have such "mass boxes".
The Metropolitan Museum of Art has two Mass book boxes in its collection. A late 15th-century French late Gothic check double-layer wrought iron box (gauge 10.2×18.5×12.2cm, without lock) with built-in wooden brackets and red velvet interlining in a modern configuration. The Metropolitan Museum of Art pointed out that such boxes were once mass-produced, so there are more of them in existence. In French, it is also known as coffret à mailles or coffret à la manière d'Espagne because of its checked decoration. According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only such sets are sometimes called "mass boxes" and may have been used to preserve precious items such as jewelry or small folio adorned prayer books.
Mass book box, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Another Mass book case in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art (7.0×9.6×7.9cm, excluding locks and rings) has basically the same basic features, except for two more rings. Presumably, in the Middle Ages it was probably used to tie it to a belt for easy carrying.
Mass book box, collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The "Mass Box" (size 17×10×9 cm) in the collection of the New York Public Library, also made in France in the late 15th century, is similar in style, with two hanging rings. New York Public Library materials also believe that the ring outside the box is convenient to hang the lighter box on the belt; In addition, it may be hung in the saddle or in other larger boxes for safe transportation.
Mass Box, New York Public Library collection
The "Mass Box" (5.7×10.3×6.3 inches, without handle) in the V&A Museum, also produced in 15th-century France, is similar in style, but slightly different, although also square, but arched at the top and a handle for easy handling. According to the V&A Museum, this book box later evolved into a money box.
Mass Book Box, V&A Museum Collection
Book bag: Silky bag
In the Middle Ages, book bags were also common portable book fixtures. Book bags tend to be leather, often decorated. For example, the Book of Armagh, housed at Trinity College Dublin, is called "The Armagh Satchel" in the bag containing this 9th-century manuscript. The inside volume of the bag is 30.0x25.0x4.0cm, which can easily fit into the Book of Amma.
"Amma's Book Bag", Trinity College, Dublin
The decoration of the "Ama Book Bag" dates back to the "Golden Age" of early medieval Irish art, with thick cowhide surfaces decorated with interlaced animal shapes and cross patterns. Studies have pointed out that this process is called "hard leather armor", in which the soaked leather is processed on a model, perhaps even using damp sand, and using bone or wooden tools to mold the pattern. A brass lock and a row of brass rings on the bag are thought to be added later. The book bag is made of the same thick cowhide leather, and the pattern is very delicately shaped and stitched, the edges are turned inward, and the seams are quite "seamless".
Although such bags rarely exist, we can still understand their use and popularity through medieval documents. A seventh-century pamphlet instructed the monks, "Please hang the white book bag on the wall and arrange it neatly." (Hang your white booksacks on the wall, set your lovely satchels in a straight line.) The literature also explains what kind of leather (sheepskin) is used and how to make leather into a book bag: take a square piece of leather, stitch it on three sides, leave one side for an opening, and install a knob to open and close the book bag.
Or written in The Hisperica Famina (Western Sayings) in the 7th century, it is also written: "Scholars gather, adjust their purple robes, put on yellow monk hats, smooth their hair curls, pull up their yellow braids, and wear bright book bags around their necks." The Irish monk Adomnán (624-704), Life of St. Columba, chronicles the anecdote of the "book bag": the leather book bag containing the Saint Coulomb manuscript fell into the river, and when it was later picked up, the Saint Coulomb manuscript was miraculously intact.
In 2006, in a swamp near the village of Faddan More, north of Tipperry, Ireland, an 8th-century manuscript of the Faddan More Psalter was discovered and is now in the National Museum of Ireland. The special environment allowed the manuscript bag (there is a view that the book bag is the cover of the codex, as to whether it is the cover or the bag will be discussed later) survived. Most surviving medieval manuscript books rarely retain the original "cover", which makes the Phadanmore Psalms a precious physical material for studying Western book binding and equipment, and peeping into early Western book production.
Psalms of Fadammore before and after the restoration, National Museum of Ireland
The three buttons on the flap may have been used to secure the straps attached to the cover. It is worth noting that the copy is not glued to the cover, which is one of the reasons why it is called a book bag. The inside of the bag is lined with papyrus, which is likely to hold it back. Similar book bags are often depicted in contemporaneous manuscripts, which also indicates the popularity of such book bags at the time. The early medieval Cadmug Gospels and Mac Durnan Gospels, as well as the Book of Dimma, depict similar bags. Without a belt, it looks a lot like today's tablet covers.
The Gospel of MacDunant, late 9th or early 10th century, Lambeth Palace Library, London
Although the number of surviving book bags is not large, in addition to the surviving physical objects, traces of book bags can also be found in the literature. Based on relevant documents and medieval manuscript paintings, some studies have pointed out that some book bags can be hung around the neck; This practice may also be derived from the medieval tradition of hanging containers containing holy relics (bones) around the neck (as amuletes).
Book cover: The book is in the Langhan incense in the clothes
When it comes to the topic of medieval portable books, "girdle books" are typical book binding structures that cannot be bypassed. Some people call the cover of a "belt book" a book wrappers. A belt book is a leather-bound book with a "tail" structure that can be hung on the belt and carried around. Overall, the folios of the belt books are small, but they are thick, which is convenient to carry and spread out in the palm of your hand. Belt books are often used by monks and clergy to recite and recite prayers at any time. In the late 16th century, the production of belt books decreased, and the form gradually changed: the core was no longer completely wrapped, and in the case of the belt book at the end of the 16th century in the collection of the Royal Swedish Library, the front and lower openings were completely exposed, and the book folio began to become larger and no longer suitable for carrying. There are two main forms of belt book binding, the difference is whether there is an additional book jacket. Bookcoats are detachable and non-detachable, and detachable bookcoats can meet the needs of books of the same size. Bookcoats help protect books from rain, snow, dust.
The Belt Book, 15th Century The Consolation of Philosophy, Yale University Library
If the sleeve of the belt book is identified as a "book cover", then the cover of the "chemise binding" that is only "one tail" from it at first glance should also fall into the category of "book cover". Thomas of the University Library of London believes that the book binding and the belt book are of the same origin, the only difference is that the "end" of the former is artificially cut off. However, according to the relevant views of the British Library and the National Library of the Netherlands, the binding of the book clothing itself is an independent form of binding, and its chemise is the predecessor of the modern book clothing, which is a sleeve cover made of leather or velvet, linen and other fabrics, which can protect the core and mouth of the book. The bookwear bindings range from richly decorated styles, such as the Book of Time and the Book of Prayer, to plain and practical styles.
In addition, in the second half of the 19th century, there was a form of book binding called "Yapp binding", and their covers were sometimes not conjugated or glued to the core, but were removable or semi-movable, and sometimes even equipped with zippers, a structure that was also consistent with the concept of the "book sleeve" mentioned above. The name of the Yap binding comes from William Yapp, a British bookbookseller in the late 19th century, who referred to the so-called "Yap binding" process on the binding of the "pocket Bible". The cover material of the Yap binding is usually leather, and the typical feature is that the three sides of the cover are turned down to form a protective edge, in order to effectively reduce the wear and tear of the book core opening, and the Yap binding form of the zipper structure is later developed. Based on the ring edge structure, this binding style is also known as circuit binding. In addition, from the characteristic point of view, the ring lining of the Jaap binding is often made of black coated paper; The mouth of the book is sometimes gilded, but often red, or some other color; Texts tend to be religious content such as the Bible and hymns.
However, it is worth noting that perhaps only the "envelope" of the above three binding structures can be called a "book case" if it is not conjugated or glued to the core of the book it loads, otherwise it should be called a cover.
Jaap Binding Bible
Book box or book case: the distinction between book boxes
Western book binding often refers to the structure formed by the cover and back cover inner plate and the spine of the so-called "hard shell book" as "case", so some foreign views call this "book folder" structure similar to traditional Chinese plywood equipment "book box". It is true that this so-called "box structure" should be the most direct and effective measure to protect books from environmental and other hazards, but if it is simply equated with a book box such as a letter sleeve, it is easy to cause conceptual confusion.
The Stiftsbibliothek library houses an 11th-century A Book of Hymns packaged in a beautiful "bookbox". This "bookbox" is wooden, decorated with carvings of precious stones or even ivory, and secured by nails. The shape of the "book box" is the same as that of the books contained in it, and it is "narrow and long". There is an opinion that the narrow design is convenient to carry around during processions inside the monastery and in the nearby city of St. Gallen. In fact, medieval manuscripts are not only thick and large, but also such narrow and long manuscripts. As for the reasons for the narrow length of the folio, on the one hand, it may be to match the binding of the book, or more precisely the decorative factors on the cover, and the ivory plaque often used as a decorative element is often narrow and long; On the other hand, narrow books tend to be thinner, easy to carry, and even convenient to hold for a long time with one hand. The decoration on the outside of the book box not only plays a beautiful role, but also adds a solemn and solemn feeling. In fact, the decoration of ivory plaques and precious stones also highlights its importance in monasteries or churches.
11th century Hymn Collection, "Book Box", St. Gallen Abbey Library
From the above physical pictures and text about the "book box", it can be seen that it is clearly different from the book box mentioned in the "book box" section of this article, and may be closer to the "splint" (although without ties) in the traditional ancient book equipment of the mainland. Of course, this "book box" has grooves on the inside, which is also worth noting. However, in ancient limp binding, vellum binding, this groove no longer exists. In ancient soft binding and calf binding, if the book core or loose page is not conjugated or glued to the cover, it is often accompanied by ties to prevent the book core or loose page from falling off, so that they are closer to the "splint", but the "splint" of the ancient soft binding is not a hard inner plate. They also do not have the ornate decoration similar to jewelry binding, and tend to be more simple and elegant.
The equipment of the Western Ancient Book has a long history, and even portable equipment is more than the above. Each piece has a unique history, reflecting different ways of storing books and cultural contexts. Although the main mission of Western ancient book equipment is to collect and protect the books in it, to some extent, it can be said that the equipment and the Western ancient book shape each other, and the equipment also has its life evolution history.
(The author is an associate research librarian of the National Library, and his research interests include traditional culture communication, Chinese and foreign publishing and media industry, and Western binding culture.) ）