The Stationer or Bookseller -- Part 2

When the manuscript was complete, it was returned to the stationer for binding. The stationer cleaned up the leaves, and assembled them in the order in which they were to be read. He then gathered the pages into a codex or folded book. The gatherings or groups of folded pages were sewn together and attached to a spine and the spine attached to wood boards. The wood boards of the book were covered with leather and often fitted with clasps or ties that held the book tightly shut to protect the Leaves of Gold.

	Above left: Sewing the quires on a frame. Above: Sewn text block with sewing and endband cords extending on either side. Left: Trimming the ends of the cords and pegs on the outside of the boards. Illustrations from Abigail B. Quandt and William G. Noel, "From Calf to Codex," in Leaves of Gold: Manuscript Illumination from Philadelphia Collections.

Left: a rare survival of a fifteenth-century binding. The brown calfskin is stamped with panels of grapevines in which various animals can be seen. The actual paintings in the clasps are about the size of a U.S. five-cent piece. The painting in the top clasp shows the Virgin being entertained by an angel, while the bottom shows Veronica and her miraculous veil. (Free Library of Philadelphia, MS Widener 3).

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The Parchmenter | The Stationer or Bookseller I | The Apothecary | The Scribe | Scripts | The Artist/Illuminator | The Stationer or Bookseller II | Bibliography