From Manuscript to Print: the Evolution of the Medieval Book

 

Ninth Century Fragments
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Although Christians regarded Scripture with the highest respect, they did not venerate the physical book itself in perpetuity. When a Bible became worn from use, a new copy would be made, and the old one might be recycled—perhaps cut up and used to reinforce the binding of a new Bible. This leaf, which has been cut in half, was salvaged from the binding of another book, where it appears to have been used for pastedowns. The Bible from which the leaf was cut was clearly a very large one. Dating from the ninth century, this bisected leaf is among the oldest Latin artifacts in the holdings of Cornell’s Rare and Manuscript Collections.

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Bible Fragments, Book of Genesis. France (Tours), ninth century.
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Introduction
the Sacred Word
Churchbooks
Private Prayer
Letterforms
Leather and Chains
Medieval Music
Schoolbooks
How the Classics Survived
Manuscripts in the Age of Print
Evolution of the Book
Appetite for Destruction
Manuscript Facsimiles
Cornell's Medieval Books
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