![]() ![]() Non adhesive structure, main attachment through lacing or sewing.The 2012 survey of Gaelic Manuscripts at the National Library Ireland found that, although there is a great disparity between the individual items, there are a few elements that characterizes a Scholar’s binding: 2 However, our focus is away from the contents to the structure and the social information in the books as objects. The areas of study for the scholar’s bindings range from literature, genealogy, hagiography, spirituality, law, medicine and dinnscanchas (place lore) and were both copies of existing works and individual studies. The first Irish paper mill were founded in 1690 at the river Dodder in Dublin. While the first Irish printing press was established in 1550 it only ever produced one whole book, printing broadsheets and pamphlets instead. ![]() Of course, at a later stage, Ireland did have a flourishing print industry, but it was not properly established until the late 17 th century, after which Scholars binding carried less significance but continued to be made. Scholar’s bindings were made in Ireland from the end of the monastic period up to the 19 th century, with some overlap on both sides. The earliest books printed in Irish were printed on the continent. The incentive of mass production in combination with the relative cheapness of printed books that made them so successful on the mainland didn’t quite hold true in Ireland and this meant that manuscript form continued to be the main vessel of Irish language and script. 1 There were many contributing reasons for this but important factors was the lack of an early domestic print and papermaking industry, combined with the high import cost of paper and printed books. Since printing, both the Irish language and in Ireland, was very rare before the late nineteenth century, much of the literature and history of Ireland was preserved and disseminated in manuscript form only. The Irish manuscript tradition was not greatly affected by arrival of print at the end of 15 th century. It is a term used in the study of rare books to mean an informal binding not made by a professional bookbinder, and most often that would be the same person who used it. To put it very simply a “Scholar’s binding” is a homemade book with writing in it. In this short post I will briefly outline the history and context of this type of binding.Ī decorated initial depicting a rabbit from MS 22 collected and written c1714, Dermod O’Connor. Steiner 1990.Following my previous post about the Special Collections and Archives’ tutorial in bookbinding as a part of the National Heritage week, this is a short introduction to the Irish Scholar’s binding itself. Lublin: Marie Curie-Skłodowska University Press, 2007. Ethiopian Art: A Unique Cultural Heritage and Modern Challenge. Raunig, Walter and Prinz Asfa-Wossen Asserate, editors. Munich : Prestel New York, N.Y. : Museum for African Art, c1997. Art That Heals: The Image as Medicine in Ethiopia. Lingfield, Surrey: Third Millennium, 2001. Ethiopian Christianity: History, Theology, Practice. Below are just a few of the many resources on Ge’ez manuscripts, Ethiopian objects, and architecture.Įsler, Philip Francis. While the two manuscripts featured below were either never bound or are now separated from their original binding, Beinecke Ethiopic MSS 5 provides a wonderful example of chain stitching.Īs more and more Ethiopian materials are digitized or put on public display, the number of links to these objects continuously grow. Chain stitching was used to unite the quires- a technique that forwent the thick cords or bands used along the spine of a book used in other types of binding. Ethiopian books often use a different type of binding than typical of most codexes bound in medieval Europe. The continual production and dissemination of these books and scrolls over centuries speak to a long and complex literary and religious history.īeyond their distinctive illumination style, these manuscripts are notable for their construction. Manuscripts from Ethiopia are held in collections around the world, including in the collection of Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript library. Primarily written in Ge’ez, an Ethiopian liturgical language, the books and scrolls of Ethiopia have long been richly decorated- a tradition that continued through the nineteenth century. Ethiopia has a vibrant history of manuscript production spanning hundreds of years. ![]()
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