Introduction

While most of the books that we see today were of exquisite leather bindings with blind tooling and gorgeous brass fittings, there was another type of book that while not as well decorated as some, were ubiquitous for the average merchant from around the late 12^th century on. (Miller, 2010)

The rise of the merchant class changed society as we know it today in a myriad of ways. Disposable income by more than just the upper classes gave rise to the joy of buying trinkets, baubles, and curios. Rich clothing, exotic spices, and imported wines found their way into numerous homes across Western Europe. All of these items were written down and counted by merchants. Prices were written, costs calculated, and ledgers kept. In fact, some of our greatest research resources are the ledgers from monasteries, keeps, and merchants. (Miller, 2010)

Stationary Bindings, or Ledger Books

Known as Stationary Bindings or Ledger Books, these books were often made of paper or low-quality parchment. Folded in quires similar to other books, the pages were left blank to allow the owner to keep notes, accounting, and other random writings in a single place. Unlike their more expensive kin, these books were bound with limp bindings of parchment or leather. Though occasionally decorated, most of the time they were left plain. (Miller, 2010)

The fact that these ledgers were found throughout Western Europe for hundreds of years, it gives lie to the common misconception that most of Europe was illiterate. Found in monasteries, universities, homes, etc., these books were everywhere. They were quick to bind, easily taken apart in order to add or remove quires for bookkeeping purposes, and were inexpensive.

Materials and Tools

I used the following materials and tools:

Parchment
Linen paper
Waxed linen thread
2 oz leather – alum tawed tanned
5 oz leather – veg tanned
PVA glue
Steel needle
Awl
Knife
Pencil
Bone folder (bone)

All items were purchased, just as they would have been by a 15^th century bookbinder. I used a steel needle as opposed to an iron needle because it was easily accessible. The leathers used were not tanned in a period manner because the period process was onerous and odorous. Modern tanning practices, however, produce leather that are very similar to extant leathers that have been studied.

The paper is an unbleached linen-cotton blend, which is very similar to papers manufactured in the 15^th century. (Hunter, 1943) The waxed linen thread is in keeping with period thread used, though manufactured in a very modern way. All other tools were modernly made but very similar to the tools used by a bookbinder in 15^th century Europe.

A note about the glue that I used. The PVA glue is a plastic-based glue that is absolutely in no way period except that it has the same effect as wheat paste. However, I felt comfortable using it for the very small amount that was necessary. It was no more than a dab on each of the leather pieces to hold them in place while being sewn on, and it simply wasn’t worth mixing a pot of wheat paste for those dabs.

Construction

These books were simple bindings for the most part, though a decorated cover wasn’t rare. Because the covers could be cut free of the quires and reused for the next year’s accounting, that’s not surprising. As such, I decided to do some fun sewing on the leather support tabs to match the pictures shown in Szirmai and Miller's books but chose not to create an overly decorated cover.

To create the decoration on the cover, I drew several diagrams to figure out how to match a picture found in Szirmai. After doing so, I glued the leather pieces in the proper places on the parchment cover, poked holes with my awl, and then sewed the decorative stitching in. I created a flat leather button and sewed it on. I then threaded a bead on the linen thread as a bit of decoration and as a weight to hold the thread around the button when stored.

To create the quires, I folded the linen paper in half, pressed it with the bone folder, tore the fold ¾ of the way across, turned the paper and folded it again. I then pressed this fold with the bone folder and set the quire aside. When I had three quires created like this, I put them together into a single quire. While most books in Europe only had eight pages to a quire (four pages, front and back), it was common for ledger books to have more pages in each quire to save time in the making of them.

The quires were sewn around the alum-tawed leather thongs with the waxed linen using the steel needle. I didn’t use a sewing frame as it wasn’t necessary for a book this size. Once the quires were gathered into the book block, I added the additional threads to tie the parchment cover to the spine.

Once the book block was complete, I threaded the linen through the holes on the spine of the parchment cover, twisted the linen together into a knot, then clipped the ends tight.

Conclusion

I really love these books. I think it’s a lovely reminder that our ancestors weren’t really all that different from us. They were educated, capable, and meticulous people. The book, while seemingly simplistic, required a good bit of ingenuity to figure out how to create the decoration and attach the parchment to the book block.

When I make my next one, I think that I will use a thicker linen thread to tie the parchment to the book block and was it heavily prior to tying the knots on the spine. I also think that I would make the leather pieces a bit bigger in order to see the decorative stitching a little easier. But overall, I enjoyed the process and like the result. It could easily be set on a desk in a 15^th century bookbinders office and pass for one of his own making.

Bibliography

Hunter, D. (1943). Papermaking: The History and Tachnique of an Ancient Craft (1978 ed.). New York, NY: Dover Publishing, Inc.

Miller, J. (2010). Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings (2014 ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press.

Szirmai, J. (1999). The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding (2011 ed.). Burlington, VT: Ashgate Publishing Company.

A little while ago, a friend approached me to make a book as a gift for an award that Duchess Miranda received at An Tir Coronation. Duchess Miranda has an early-period persona, so I looked toward the Carolingian period. Since I had just taught a class on this at An Tir/West War, I felt pretty comfortable with the process and knew what I was getting into, so I said yes. This is how I made the book.

Materials:

1/2" wooden boards, 5.5" x 3.5"
1/4" twine, 1 yard
White 18/2 linen thread, waxed
Linen paper, 8.5" x 11.5", x 21
2-ounce veg tanned leather, 12" x 8" + 2 2" x 3" pieces
O-ring, 1/4" diameter
Finishing nail, 1"
Furniture brads, 1/2" diameter, x 10
PVA glue

Tools:

Sewing needle
Bone folder
Utility knife
12" ruler
Cutting board
Drill, 1/4" drill bit
Fine-toothed saw
Awl
Book press (or two boards with two clamps)

Folding Pages

To make the book block, fold the paper in half to match the short ends. Using the bone folder, press the seam as tightly as you can. Then gently tear at the seam a little more than half way across. Fold the paper again to match the new short ends. Press the seam with the bone folder tightly. Do this again with all 21 sheets of paper to make your book block.

Book Boards

The book boards need to be prepped for a Carolingian before you sew the book block. To do this, you'll need to lightly sand the boards to get rid of any splinters or burs, but don't stress over making the boards glass-smooth. They'll be covered with leather, anyway, so it doesn't matter.

A Carolingian book has several methods of being put together. The one that I chose has two sewing stations because it's a fairly small book. I drilled through from the spine-edge to the inside cover of the book at the two sewing stations and at the top of bottom of each board for the endbands.

Sewing station and endband holes drilled in from the spine-edge. These are drilled at an angle toward the inside of the cover boards.

After I've drilled the spine-edge holes, I drilled two additional holes at each sewing station hole. These holes go straight through. I also drilled one hole at each endband station, again straight through from inside to outside.

Outside cover of boards after all holes are drilled.

Inside cover of boards after all holes are drilled.

At this point, I had to carve out space between the drilled holes for the twine to rest in. The goal is for the channels to be deep enough for the twine to rest in without overflowing or having too much room.

The channels between the holes. The board on top is the outside of the board. The one on the bottom is the inside of the board.

Book Block

Now we get to prep the book block. This entails organizing the pages, trimming them to the size of the boards, cutting out the sewing station holes, and sewing the pages to the twine.

Two trim the pages to the size of the book boards, you'll need a book press. Alternatively, you can use two boards with two clamps, which is what I did for this book. Organize the book as follows: press board, book board, book block with spine folds up, book board, and press board. The back book board should be about an inch higher than the back press board. The front book board and book block should be exactly even with the front press board. This will give you something hard to cut against while you're trimming the book block.

You can use a utility knife laid flat on the front press board, but I usually use a flat razor blade. It's a little harder to hold onto, but it's easier to keep it flat against the board, and that bit is imperative. The goal is to shave the pages down to the same size as the boards as evenly as possible, but to do this well, you're going to need to go slowly and smoothly, cutting the pages piece by piece.

Pages being trimmed in the book press.

Once the pages are trimmed, I marked and cut the book block's spine in order to create the sewing stations. To do this, I put the book block between the book boards and lined up a ruler between the holes drilled in the boards. I then drew a line straight across the book block at the sewing stations. I also drew another line in the middle between the edge of the book block and the sewing stations. This is where I finished the sewing and also where the endbands are sewn to.

The sewing stations and outside sewing places are marked on the book block.

At this point, the book block goes back into the book press; this time without the boards. I lined the book block up so that half a centimeter popped up above the press boards, then tightened the boards very, very tightly. Then I took a very fine-toothed saw and drew it across the four lines that I'd drawn until I'd cut down to the board press.

Cutting out the sewing stations.

Take the book block out of the press and make a small check mark in the upper right corner of each quire. Trust me, you'll want this, because at some point one of the quires will get turned around, dropped, or in some other way out of sync. When this happens, if you sew it in incorrectly, that one quire will stick out oddly, disrupting your otherwise beautiful work and driving you crazy. Do the check marks. It's worth it.

Make the check marks. I know they seem silly, but trust me on this.

So, I didn't take any pictures of the sewing here. It's a similar type of sewing that you'll find on YouTube far better than anything I can show you, and honestly, it's really hard to take pictures while you're sewing. I wrapped the twine cords in a figure 8, going around once per hole, and closed each quire off with chain stitches at either end.

Sewing Book Block

Before you sew the book block, however, you need to thread the twine cords through the bottom book board. To do this, cut the twine into three 1-foot lengths, Wax one end of one length of the twine, and thread it through one of the sewing station holes in the spine, to the right hole, straight through, over to the left hole, and straight back up. Then feed the twine back through the original hole and out. Even the twine so that the ends match up and tighten it against the board. Do the same with the second sewing station.

The twine threaded through holes on the outside of the board.

The twine threaded through the holes on the outside of the board.

You can use a sewing frame to sew these books, but we have no proof that sewing frames were used this early in bookbinding. The earliest that I've seen is from the late-11th century, and this book is based off an 8th-century book. Plus, that's one more tool that you'd have to buy/get/make, and you don't really need it. Just lay the bottom book board on the table with the cords in front. Lay the first quire down on the book board, and flip the cords up as you use them. This will help keep them out of your way but still allow you to tighten the sewing as you go.