Girdle book

Girdle book

Girdle books were small portable books worn by medieval monks, clergymen and nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume between the 13th and 16th centuries. It consisted of a book whose leather binding continued loose below the cover of the book in a long tapered tail with a large knot at the end which could be tucked into one's "girdle" or belt. The book hung upside down and backwards so that when swung upwards it was ready for reading. The books were normally religious: a cleric's daily Office or for lay persons (especially women) a Book of Hours. It served both the utilitarian function of enabling hands-free carrying and protecting valuable books from theft and the elements. It also made a visible statement of social position wealth and learning (or at least literacy).

Girdle books first appeared in the late 13th century and gained popularity through the 15th sometimes becoming ostentatious jewel-encrusted presentation books and falling out of favour late in the 16th century, when books had become much more common. [ [http://aelflaed.homemail.com.au/doco/girdlebook.html "Girdle Book Slip-Cover"] , Crispin Sexi (Jaysen Ollerenshaw), 2005. Accessed December 2006.] There are hundreds of artistic representations of girdle books, but only 23 medieval girdle books have survived in their original binding, the oldest datable example being from Kastl, Germany (ca. 1453). [ [http://www.nypl.org/press/2002/liturgical.cfm " Rare and Beautiful Liturgical Manuscripts on Display at The New York Public Library"] . Accessed December 2006.]

Girdle books were a variant on other forms of medieval book-binding where the leather or cloth continued loose beyond the edges of the hard cover. Especially for small personal books like the Book of Hours, the leather often extended sideways, which gave extra protection for the book when not in use - the loose edges could be wrapped round, and often buckles or laces enabled the book to be securely closed. In addition, when reading, the book could be held from outside the cover, so that the clean inside surface of the leather, rather than the thumbs of the reader, touched the pages. This stopped the pages acquiring the dirty patches in the lower margins that many medieval books have. These too are often shown in art, although it is noticeable that readers are often not making full use of the protective way of holding the book.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.minsky.com/st-francis-girdlebook.htm Pictures] , from "The Book Art of Richard Minsky".
* [http://www.kb.dk/elib/mss/treasures/bogbind/rostgaard_6.htm Pictures] , The Law of Jutland. Denmark c. 1490. Rostgaard 6 8º. Parchment, 135 fols.
* [http://myhandboundbooks.blogspot.com/2007/08/my-girdle-books.html Pictures] , Replica Girdle Books, by bookbinder Rhonda Miller


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Book of hours — A book of hours is the most common type of surviving medieval illuminated manuscript. Each book of hours is unique in one way or another, but all contain a collection of texts, prayers and psalms, along with appropriate illustrations, to form a… …   Wikipedia

  • Girdle — This article is about the item of clothing. In the Scots language, girdle refers to a cooking griddle. In malacology a girdle is part of a chiton.The word girdle originally meant a belt. In modern English the term girdle is most commonly used for …   Wikipedia

  • Royal girdle of Korea — Infobox Korean name hangul=금제과대 hanja=金製과帶 rr=geumje gwa dae mr=kŭmgchae kwa tae There are several gold girdles of Korea which have been excavated. They are symbols of royalty but lesser belts were worn by governmental officials. These belts have …   Wikipedia

  • Golden Girdle of Gaea — The Golden Girdle of Gaea is a fictional object depicted in the DC Comics book Wonder Woman . It is based on the mythological girdle stolen by Heracles as part of his Twelve Labors.Comic book historyOriginally when the Themyscirian Amazons were… …   Wikipedia

  • Boxer Boy and Great Granny Girdle — Infobox character colour = Blue name = Boxer Boy and Great Granny Girdle caption = first = Captain Underpants and the Preposterous Plight of the Purple Potty People last = cause = nickname = alias = Grandpa Henry George s great grandmother… …   Wikipedia

  • Cumdach — Main face of the cumdach for Molaise s Gospels, 11th century …   Wikipedia

  • Consolation of Philosophy — For the book by Alain de Botton published in 2000, see The Consolations of Philosophy. This early printed book has many hand painted illustrations depicting Lady Philosophy and scenes of daily life in fifteenth century Ghent (1485) Consolation of …   Wikipedia

  • PROSODY, HEBREW — This article is a survey of the history of Hebrew poetic forms from the Bible to the present time. The entry is arranged according to the following outline: introduction the variety of formal systems the specific nature of hebrew literary history …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Diamond (gemstone) — Part of a series on Diamonds Material Material properties Crystallographic defects Formatio …   Wikipedia

  • Sir Gawain and the Green Knight — is a late 14th century Middle English alliterative romance outlining an adventure of Sir Gawain, a knight of King Arthur s Round Table. In the tale, Sir Gawain accepts a challenge from a mysterious warrior who is completely green, from his… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”