Wooden Board Binding 13th-15th century, at PBI 2017

The thrid workshop that I had at PBI this year, was making a wooden board binding based on those made between the 13th to 15th centuries in Europe. The instructor was Renate Mesmer who is Head of Conservation at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC. The workshop spanned four full days but as Renate warned us on the first day, four days is not enough time to make this book. And indeed, nobody finished it. At the end of the four days, the participants had books at various stages of completion, but none were done entirely or complete with clasps. We did produce a stunning white library shelf, though, in my opinion.

We bound the sections with a herringbone sewing on double raised cords. And headbands. We did a fancy headband with many cores. Not sure I could duplicate it today.

I have this complex headband finished on just the head of my book. Although I also did a quicker bead-on-the-front headband in matching colours, at the tail of the book.

Working on the boards alone, took quite a long time. It's hard, working with hardwood. This photo shows the book after the boards are laced on and you can see most of the work done on the boards (shaping the spine edge, the indents at head and tail and fore edge, as well as the holes for lacing, pegging, etc) the spine lining, headbands, etc.

We did a full covering with alum tawed calf. The covering and tying up were the last steps that I completed.

Ideally we would have made and attached two fore edge clasps and then finished the interior paste downs. I did start a bit on one of the clasps but the four days just were not long enough! Nonetheless, thank you Renate, for such a challenging class!

I have more photographs from this workshop on my Facebook page if you would like to see them.

Book #284

Tegumentum Violaceum

This is another limp binding model based on the books examined in Limp Bindings from Tallin. The original was a church's record of accounts in the late 15th Century. Certainly one of the trickier books I have made recently. The textblock is sewn on double raised cords and then attached to the cover with tackets and there is a small wooden support in between the layers of leather.

My Girdle Books

The Girdle Book was the last item on my original list of historical-bindings-to-do, and now they are finally finished. I have experimented with the Girdle Book a few times before, but these are certainly the most refined. This is also the first time that I have used any embellishments. The dark brown book is made with deerskin, a very thin suede split. The white book is lambskin, also a thin suede split.

These are not technically "bound" like Medieval girdle books. I just tried to make books that look like Medieval girdle books.


In The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding, Szirmai dedicates a few pages to the girdle book. It is a late medieval book structure, most originating during the 15th century, and it was represented widely in paintings - there being over 800 documented visual depictions of the girdle book. In the artwork, it is usually being carried by biblical figures, clergy, monks, nuns, etc. There are just 23 extant girdle books now and all but four of these are religious texts (Szirmai 236-7).


Generally, the girdle book was a small book, covered in leather with a long extension of leather at the bottom of the book. Sometimes the extension was left loose and just carried in the hand, or it was knotted so that the knot could be tucked under the belt (i.e. the girdle). So the book would be hanging upside-down. So if the carrier wanted to use the book, he could just reach down and bring the book up and it would be upside-right, and it never has to be detached from his belt. It seems like an efficient model. Imagine how easy it would be to read while traveling. If he was on the back of a mule (or whatever he would have been using), he could just read and not worry about dropping the book. As long as his mode of transportation has eyes, this would be ideal.

Some of the girdle books were very plain, but there are some examples of highly decorated girlde books with brass corner pieces, engraving, tooling, ornate fastenings and clasps, and maybe even a coat of arms or other adornment in the center of the cover. I kept my books embellished with the basics: corner pieces and one fastening. Medieval books typically had two fastenings - but I just play the "artistic license card" whenever necessary.

Secret Belgian Binding

The Secret Belgian Binding was my next project on the list of historical bindings to do. I wish I knew more about the history of this binding; there is very little information available online and none of my books have any details.

I learned this in a class with Susan Mills. I believe the binding was unearthed by Hedi Kyle, and it has been dated between the 14th and 16th centuries. Story is, this type of binding had been long lost and forgotten until Hedi came upon it and she figured out how it was done. It is thought that it was a special binding method of a particular binder so it was never widely known. If you have any more authoritative information about this, please let me know. Don't bother sending me the Wikipedia link because I wrote that myself.

Now I remember why it has been so long since I did it. It's too tedious! But, nonetheless, I persevered and completed these two black and whites this week. I cheated a little bit. The covers are covered with self-adhesive papers - so I didn't have to wait for any glue or paste to dry. But they turned out fine, the proportions are nice, at 480 pages thick, and nice to hold. I still don't want to start making them very often, though.

Medieval Limp Binding

Next on my list of historic book structures to do, was a typical Medieval limp binding. This is described by Szirmai in his text: "the covering is largely of coarse parchment, sometimes of two pieces pasted together...cut off flush with the bookblock; limp leather coverings or leather edging are exceptional. The lower cover usually extends to a rectangular front-edge flap, with one or two cords to tie them around flat buttons of horn, leather or metal on the back" (p. 299, The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding). This type of book dates from 1375 to 1500.

So here are my books, but certainly they aren't exact replicas. I have used thin limp leather, not parchment. One is black sheepskin, and the other is white suede lambskin. The pages are 50lb Canson paper...not readily available in the 1400s. The spines are reinforced with thicker leather strips although I believe originally wood may have been more common for the spine piece. The buttons are plastic...not very authentic.

The binding is really very basic, though. It is the shape and style of the covering that makes this representative of the Medieval books. The sewing is a standard longstitch and chain stitch, directly through the cover and spine reinforcement.

Although I haven't been making many books like this recently, I used to make a lot of them. I had one of these up for auction on Ebay and I was contacted by a university lecturer in medieval manuscripts and binding structures in Norway, who had seen the book and he wrote, "I should say this is the first one of items advertised as Medieval that is convincing and even impressive."

There was also a frantic session of making these books when I got my first large book order. I had to make 14 of them shown in the photo here, half off-white and half dark brown. They were for somebody who wanted to give them to all the attendants in their wedding. (Actually, oh ya, there are just 13 in the photo because one had been sent previously as a sample.)

Next on my list is the secret Belgian binding, or the girdle book maybe.