15th Century Ledger Book

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.