The structure of a Byzantine Codice Collated by Isabell Winter

I have set myself a goal to try and recreate a bare bones example from each of the major binding styles. I have used J.A Szirmai's book “The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding”, 2007 to assist me in this goal. Too often we have all the information about the cover but not the structure of how the book was bound. The binding itself is often overlooked by researchers who are more often than not more interested in the content of the book rather than its structure. In a general sense I have observed a logical progression of complexity in the way a book is bound thru different time periods and locations. One problem I have come across is that almost anything goes, so it can be hard to define a style to a particular period as it can change so much thru location, time, collectors requests, binders trademarks.

There is a lot of ambiguity around what is considered a Byzantine binding, this stems from the a lot of vagueness on the term. If you search byzantine online, the wikipedia listing states: The Byzantine Empire (or Byzantium) was the predominantly Greek-speaking eastern Roman Empire of the Middle Ages, centered around its capital of Constantinople, and ruled by emperors in direct succession to the ancient Roman emperors. It was called the Roman Empire and also Romania (Greek: Ῥωμανία, Rhōmanía) by its inhabitants and neighbours. As the distinction between "Roman Empire" and "Byzantine Empire" is largely a modern convention, it is not possible to assign a date of separation, but an important point is Emperor Constantine I's transfer in 324 of the capital from Nicomedia (in Anatolia) to Byzantium on the Bosphorus, which became Constantinople (alternatively "New Rome").

The Byzantine Empire existed for more than a thousand years (from approximately 306 AD to 1453 AD). During its existence, the Empire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural, and military forces in Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman–Persian and Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Empire recovered during the Macedonian dynasty, rising again to become a pre-eminent power in the Eastern Mediterranean by the late tenth century, rivaling the Fatimid Caliphate. After 1071, however, much of Asia Minor, the Empire's heartland, was lost to the Seljuk Turks. The Komnenian restoration regained some ground and briefly re-established dominance in the twelfth century, but following the death of Andronikos I Komnenos and the end of the Komnenos dynasty in the late twelfth century the Empire declined again. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 by the Fourth Crusade, when it was dissolved and divided into competing Byzantine Greek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople and re-establishment of the Empire in 1261, under the Palaiologan emperors, successive civil wars in the fourteenth century further sapped the Empire's strength. Most of its remaining territory was lost in the Byzantine– Ottoman Wars, culminating in the Fall of Constantinople and its remaining territories to the Muslim Ottoman Empire in the fifteenth century. [extracted 24 Nov 2010].

As the time refereed to as Byzantine covers such a long period and the bookbinding tradition of the realm was not restricted to the mainland with Constantinople (Szirmai), geographical boarders are not really an applicable way to define what is a Byzantine codice. Nor is the time period given by Wikipedia as even with the fall of the empire the bookbinding style continued in a similar way for some time to come.

Szimai has therefore considered 'byzantine bindings' based on their structural features: link-stitch sewing on more than two sewing stations, spine lining of cloth extending to the outer face of the boards, smooth back, wooden boards usual with grooved edges and onto the board edges, and fastenings of the peg and strap type. Obviously not all of these features occurred on every binding and as consistantly shown, different regions had different traits.

According to Szimai, there are unfortunately due to three main reasons, hardly any original bindings left from the first half of the byzantine millennium, destruction of religious literature on the fall of the byzantine empire, neglect and ignorance of custodians who had no inhibitions about using leaves of ancient manuscripts to cover jam-jars or light the kitchen stove. And finally, latter owners www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 1 of 10 who had supposedly unsightly bindings, damaged or undamaged, rebound to fit with the taste of the period.

Structure The bookblock or collection of quires (leaves of pages interfolded together) have been observed to consist of parchment and in latter period examples, paper.

Evidence of tackets being used is common, with either the holes remaining of this practice (to keep pages together) or small remnants of the thread used to do this.

There is some evidence of end pages being used either by the scribe leaving a few blank pages at the beginning and end or by the binder attaching a separate end page (by hooking it around the first and last quire). However there are also examples where there are no end pages and the book goes straight from the wooden board to the first page of text. This would have been individual to each binder/collectors request.

Sewing stations were studied on 94 examples, and published by Federici and Houlis (1988). They were found to vary between three – seven, with four being the most common (followed by three and five). Szimai found two distinct pattens for the distribution of the sewing stations with the first being equally distributed along the edge of the spine and the second, also having equal distribution but the change over stations (points at the top and tail of the spine where you change direction) being located approx ½ way in the middle of the final segments. The sewing stations have been observed to have been generated by both methods of punched holes or cuts across the fold.

The sewing of these codice's have three main characteristics according to Szimai 1. Link stitch sewing on more than two sewing stations 2. extended type of link stitch resulting in comparatively bulky chains 3. technique of sewing two haves of the bookblock separately and joining afterwards

Szimai comments that the reason for sewing a bookblock in two halves is not quite apparent, but suggests that the binder wanted to have an identical and equally sound mode of hinging at either board. I experimented while making this book and attempted to sew it all at once from bottom to top, but noted the hinging loops I was then creating were rather floppy and loose, where as when you started at the board and then moved to the quires, you then looped around the three hinging loop threads which pulled them together giving a tighter appearance and structure. After removing my stitching several times while attempting this I did not join the two halves ½ way, I did so after attaching one quire to the board on one side and 5 on the other side, which is the reason for the joining cord to be near one board rather than in the middle of the spine, as you would expect.

www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 2 of 10 While there has been research and assumptions made that the most common thread would be linen or hemp there does not appear to be any factual research. Szimai did comment that in his own observations on approximately 20 byzantine bindings the diameter of the thread used varied with some older 9th / 10th century bindings having a diameter of 1.3 – 1.8mm and latter medieval sewing threads seen in southern slavic and greek codices ranged from 0.6 – 1.1mm.

Three methods of attachment of boards have been postulated for these bindings by Federici and Houlis, 1988) 1. The binder begins with making the hinging loops on the board at the first station, enters the first quire, exits at the second station where hinging is carried out, and proceeds in the same sequence, thus carrying out board attachment concomitiantly with the sewing and using the same piece of thread 2. Both boards first received a complete set of hinging loops made from sewing thread, then another needle is threaded and the sewing starts, linking the first quire to the prepared hinging loops. 3. The sewing of the bookblook and the making of hinging loops on the boards are carried out independently and in a final step of the operation, boards and bookblock are joined together with two separate lengths of thread.

Szimai comments that 1, seems to be the most efficient and used when sewing the two bookblocks as halves and joining, where as 2 and 3 would prove useful during repairs. The lacing path used for anchoring the hinging loops varies quite a bit in examples where it has been noticed. It is important to note however that being able to identify what method has been used in extant examples is difficult as you need to see both the inside and outside of the boards to identify the attachment method, which unless the book is already in a bad state would result in you having to damage the leather cover and heavy fabric lining to observe.

www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 3 of 10 Example of what the hinging loops look like on the inside of the book when the quires are sewn directly onto the boards. Holes should have been drilled smaller but was experimenting with this book.

The method in which the hinging loops also varies quite a bit, from a single line of holes for the hinging loops drilled parallel to the spine, to multiple holes being drilled in line with the sewing stations but some parallel and some obliquely thru to oblique drill holes from the spine edge meeting with an almost oblique second drill hole. Most common however is the methods where the drill holes are parallel to the spine (in their various styles). It must be noted however that one style where oblique drill holes from a channel to spine edge style has also been found in wooden boards from Egypt which may represent the same type of attachment, as well as in various vatican collection books dated to between the 9th - 14th centuries (Szimai).

Note how you can see the cord where the two halves are joined together, and the hinging loops are nice and tight when sewn this way. Holes could also have been drilled at the end sewing stations but I did not do this in this trial book. www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 4 of 10 Virtually all byzantine bindings have wooden boards, Federici and Houlis (1988) were able to identify that most frequent was poplar, followed by conifer, oak, beech, walnut, fruitwoods and olive. On russian bindings conifer, oak and limewood have been observed. On books held by the Vatican it has been noted that 89% of the books had the wood grain direction vertical, although in other collections more of a 50/50 split between vertical and horizontal grain direction has been noted (Szimai). The Vatican examples had a mean thickness of 11.7mm but ranging from 5.5 to 22.5mm.

Szimai also noted that the boards are commonly flush with the bookblock and often have groves in the edges of the boards. Several theories surround this observation, first that the grove is the result of a binding practice where two boards are used and covered separately (has been seen in greek examples) and secondly where grooves have been cut all around the edges – maybe for decoration. The way the groove is cut is quite varied from a step inward v shape to softer versions of this thru to rounded and then also boards where the grove does not go all the way to the edges, finishing with various pattens (Szimai, Fig 6.9, pg 75).

Federici and Houlis (1988) studied the spine edge of these bindings and found that in 92.6% the outer spine edge of the board was rounded but the inner side was not. 3.7% the boards at the spine edge were not rounded at all and in 2.5% and 1.2% respectively both spine edges were rounded or only the inner spine edge was. The final two examples may be the result of binders making allowance for swelling of the spine due to using thick thread, as by rounding the inner edge you create a shoulder as is seen in modern fine bindings.

According to Szimai a characteristic feature of byzantine bindings is the spine lining with coarse cloth (often blue) extended onto about 1/3rd of the outer face of the board, which can also be seen on www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 5 of 10 some coptic bindings and 9th century islamic bindings. This is backed up by the fact that you can often feel or see under raking light the edge of the spine lining. This lining is often still seen on extant examples and the purpose if it does aid in the strengthening of the board attachment to the bookblock. It can be noted that often the hinging threads around the boards are broken but the book remains held together by the spine lining.

Course blue linen used as a spine lining.

In the attachment of boards examples, both require the boards to be finished prior to attachment. For the first method of board attachment it is then difficult to trim the pages with a book plough once bound, it is possible to do the fore edge (as the boards can be folded out of the way but for the top and bottom this is not possible. A blade could be used however to tidy up if the pages were not completely lined up/tidy. This also means that you want good tight sewing as otherwise your boards and bookblock will twist. The spine lining also helps reduce this twist.

Once the spine lining is attached this is the time you can trim the pages. You would not trim the pages before this point as the quires could shift from their final position and if already trimmed www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 6 of 10 would possibly not line up anymore. There is no evidence of how the page edges were trimmed but there have been a few observations of score marks from a drawknife or similar.

In the Vatican bindings about 70% had plain edges but the remainder showed stained and ornamental edges (some with drawings), aswell as some with a title painted on the edge. In the ones with a title written, the majority were written on the tail edge (bottom of the book). This most likely reflects the way the books were stored – spine up, with tail edge facing out.

Another way the structure of the book is kept stable is the use of endbands, often referred to as headbands, but are done both on the top and the tail of the book. Characteristically, byzantine bindings have pronounced raised endbands which are worked on supports, usually of cord, occasionally of leather, and extending over the board edges. The supports are anchored with sewing thread through tunnels or holes in or close to the board edge; across the spine edge of the bookblock the supports are tied down through the centrefold of each quire and thus through the cloth lining (Szimai).

This example book I have tried two of the common styles of doing the raised endbands on double cords, one end with the holes to the outside (seen at the top) and one end with the holes drilled to the inside (as seen at the bottom).

The endband is then woven using the same neutral coloured thread as is used to sew the book block, wound obliquely around the lower support and vertically around the upper support. The drill holes (oblique tunnels) travel from the top edge of the board to either the inside or outside of the board (the majority of the Vatican examples exit on the outside of the board). There have been examples using colourful embroidery thread creating a chevron patten, but many patterns can be created depending on the way the endband is woven, just as a single support can also be used.

www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 7 of 10 Example of double cord with drilled holes to the outside resulting in the stitching been seen on the outside of the book. Also note that as seen below this style then pulls the cords to the outside of the book.

Example of double cord with drilled holes to the inside resulting in the stitching been seen on the inside of the book rather than to the spine. Also note that as seen below this style then pulls the cords to the inside of the book.

The majority of byzantine bindings have a leather covering and some bindings (known as treasure bindings) are covered in precious textiles like brocade, silk or velvet and often have precious metals, gems or carved ivory embellished on them. Some researchers have said the leather used is often goat or sheepskin, but calfskin has been identified with colours of mostly brown, red-brown and sometimes black. It would make sence for the glue to therefore be an animal glue as this was common practice for bookbinding, particuarly with its reversible nature and good adhesive quality's. www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 8 of 10 Due to the endbands cord continuing along and being attached to the top edge of the board this then requires extra care when covering as you need to create “cheeks” and then get the leather to adhere well. I am assuming pairing the leather would be required particularly on the spine where you would then turn over the leather to tuck in behind the endband. Some extant examples you can see that the binder cut a slit to in the turned in leather to allow it to be behind the endband and then over it as you work down the board. Sometimes an extra piece of leather has been added on the inner board to be where the turn in would be if it wasn't for the endband being left exposed.

Szimai noted that the leather coverings of these bindings are virtually always decorated with blind tooling, no gold tooling was used and there is a noticeable absence of tooled titles aswell. There is an example of a treasure binding which is actually gilded silver decorated with biblical scenes at the Mt Sinai St Catherine's monastery Evangleon (Mt Sinai gr. 207). From wikipedia Saint Catherine's Monastery (Greek: Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης) lies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in Saint Katherine city in Egypt. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. According to the UNESCO report (60100 ha / Ref: 954), this monastery has been called the oldest working Christian monastery in the world – although the Monastery of Saint Anthony, situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo, also lays claim to that title. [Extracted 26 November, 2010].

Peg and strap fastenings are used on byzantine bindings, similar to late coptic codices. Szimai notes that as a rule, the metal pegs (iron and bronze, seldom wood or bone) are driven into the edge of the upper cover and the leather straps (mostly slit braid) are attached through transverse holes along the edge of the lower cover. Cockerell comments that all books written or printed on vellum should have clasps, as unless vellum is kept flat it is apt to cockle which will in turn force the leaves apart and let dust into the book. During a study of the vatican examples Federici and Houlis found two fastenings were used in 41%, one fastening in 24%, four in 20% and 14% had no fastenings. There have been other examples with up to 12 fastenings used, the fastenings are mostly attached on the front edge. The rings used at the end of the leather braid were both simple circles thru to fancy catches as seen in Szimai Fig 6.15, pg 82.

As some of the Byzantine bindings are covered completely in metal, it could be conceived that this might be where the use of corners and central plaques originated – for less valuable bindings. Some corner pieces are decorated with effigies of the four evangelists or are simple geometrical ornaments in shapes such as almonds, stars, circles, fleur-de-lis. Where corner and central bosses are observed there are normally five – one in each corner and the central boss or plaque. Given there are many variations of the quantity of bosses used there is not enough evidence to support any suggestions that the kind of bosses on a binding can give an indication of its provenance (Szimai).

www.isabell.paradise.gen.nz January 2011 Page 9 of 10 Bibiography http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire dated 24 November 2010. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Catherine's_Monastery,_Mount_Sinai dated 26 November 2010. http://www.sinaimonastery.com/en/index.php?lid=1 dated 26 November 2010.

Clark, J. 1901. The Care of books. University Press, Cambridge. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26378/26378-h/26378-h.htm

Cockerell, Douglas. 1910. Bookbinding and the Care of Books, a handbook for amateurs bookbinders & librarians. The Pitman Press, London. http://www.gutenberg.org/files/26672/26672-h/26672-h.htm

Federici, Carlo and Houlis, Kostantinos. 1988. Legature Bizantine Vaticane, Rome: Fratelli Palombi Editori.

Szimai, J.A. 2007. The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Ashgate Publishing Ltd, England.

Links to sites also useful http://www.perkolatorpress.com/byzantine.html – a very nice example of a modern made byzantine binding. http://www.patmosworkshop.com/ - Book and Manuscript conservation studio St John Thelogian Monastery, Patmos – Greece http://www.ligatus.org.uk/glossary/ - A project to create an english/greek terminology for the structures and materials of byzantine and greek bookbinding. http://www.gbwny.org/news/2007/05/introduction-to-byzantine-binding-with-anna-embree/ - Guild of Bookworkers New York Chapter – introduction to Byzantine Binding with Anna Embree review. http://www.bookbindingteam.com/2007/10/chain-stitch.html – A little history of the chain stitch, bookbinding etsy street team. http://ekthesis.blogspot.com/2007/01/coptic-bookbinding-between-book.html – Coptic bookbinding – between book historians and biblical studies. http://www.qantara-med.org/qantara4/public/show_document.php?do_id=582&lang=en – Mediterranean heritage bookbinding overview. http://www.scribd.com/doc/32989680/The-Archaeology-of-Medieval-Bookbinding-—By-John-A- Szirmai – ebook copy of the wonderful book The archaeology of medieval bookbinding http://www.scribd.com/doc/36559652/Historical-Sketch-of-Bookbinding – ebook copy of An Historical sketch of bookbinding by E. Gordon Duff. http://www.scribd.com/doc/27764761/Guidelines-for-the-Conservation-of-Leather-and-Parchment- Book-Bindings – Guidelines for the conservation of leather and parchment book bindings.

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