Girdle book

Girdle books[1] were small portable books worn by

medieval European monks, clergymen and aristocratic
nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume, between
the 13th and 16th centuries.[2] They consisted of a book
whose leather binding continued loose below the cover of
the book in a long tapered tail with a large knot at the end
which could be tucked into one's girdle or belt. The knot
was usually strips of leather woven together for durability.
The book hung upside down and backwards so that when
swung upwards it was ready for reading. The books were
normally religious: a cleric's daily Office, or for lay persons
(especially women) a Book of Hours. One of the best
known texts to become a girdle book is Boethius's The
Consolation of Philosophy, although it is the only surviving
philosophical/theological girdle book.

Women especially wore the girdle book out of convenience

since it was already fashionable, at least in the 15th century,
to wear a girdle belt above the waistline.[3] A book secured
on the girdle belt served both the utilitarian function of
enabling hands-free carrying and protecting valuable books
from theft and the elements. It also made a visible statement
of social position, wealth and learning (or at least literacy).[4]
Authoritative figures, saints or apostles like St. Jerome were Saint Catherine of Alexandria holds a girdle
often depicted holding girdle books.[5] Girdle books also book.
appeared to be a fashionable accessory for lay women.
Artistic depictions of the girdle book confirm their
popularity as an accessory.[6]

Girdle books first appeared in the late 13th century and gained popularity through the 15th, sometimes
becoming ostentatious jewel-encrusted presentation books, and falling out of favour late in the 16th century,
when printed books had become much more common.[7] Another possible reason for their decline was the
relatively small number of specialized girdle-protected texts becoming outdated with little need to replace
them. In an environment of increasingly cheap printing it was simpler to replicate texts than spend time
preserving individual manuscripts. The intricately constructed girdle bindings were simply impractical after a
certain point.

Contents
In art
Construction
Variations
Lack of literature
See also
Notes
External links

In art
There are hundreds of artistic representations of girdle books.
The Virgin Mary is shown reading one in such famous
paintings as the Ghent Altarpiece and Mérode Altarpiece, and
Saint Catherine reads one in the painting with Mary Magdalene
by Konrad Witz. The donor reads one in Jan van Eyck's
Madonna with Canon van der Paele. Their popularity in art
indicates a much wider distribution and adoption of the girdle
book as a binding than surviving copies suggest. But in art,
books not being read tend to be carried by the folds of the cover
rather than secured to the belt, and many are too large to be
carried around as an accessory.

A list of 150 examples "shows the proportion of representation

An open girdle book. Note the tied knot
in painting and in sculpture [as] almost equal". However, only
used for easy holding and the relatively
23 medieval girdle books have survived in their original
small size of the book itself.
binding, the oldest datable example being from Kastl, Germany
(ca. 1453).[8] At least part of the reason for the small number of
surviving examples stems from the fact that the use of the girdle book was largely confined to a narrow area
from the Netherlands to the Upper Rhine Valley.[9]
Saint Barbara, wing of the Werl Jan van Eyck, Ghent Altarpiece,
Triptych, Robert Campin Virgin Mary

Saints Catherine and Mary Martin Schongauer, The Holy

Magdalene, Konrad Witz, c. Family
1440
 Jan van Eyck's Madonna with Apostles on a Danish altarpiece
Canon van der Paele

Another Danish apostle Totentanz, Death comes for a

monk, with a book in his belt.

Construction
Girdle books were a variant on other forms of medieval book-binding in which the leather or cloth continued
loose beyond the edges of the hard cover. Especially for small personal books like the Book of Hours, the
leather often extended sideways, which gave extra protection for the book when not in use - the loose edges
could be wrapped round, and often buckles or laces enabled the book to be securely closed. In addition, when
reading, the book could be held from outside the cover, so that the clean inside surface of the leather, rather
than the thumbs of the reader, touched the pages. This stopped the pages acquiring the dirty patches in the
lower margins that many medieval books have. These too are often shown in art, although it is noticeable that
readers are often not making full use of the protective way of holding the book.

The knot used for the handle was a Turk's head knot, so named for similar appearance to the turbans worn by
medieval Muslims of the Turkish Empire. Sometimes the girdle book had a hook that fastened to the belt; "a
hinge connected the hook to the flap of the binding, allowing maximal movement of the book while it was still
attached."
Many girdle books were unadorned; however, there are also many
that have brass corner pieces, carvings, awl punctures, artisan clasps,
and possibly a family crest or other mark on the front. Given the
security afforded by carrying the book around, it was less risky to add
decoration and gilding to a book less easily stolen than a shelved
manuscript. Additionally, ornate metal clasps and hinges were more
durable than woven leather or cloth bindings that wore out more
quickly from heavy use.

Variations
Although not strictly girdle books, several other types of portable
books were in use during the same time period.[10] Some larger books
had rings attached to the standard binding so a cord could be slipped
through them and wrapped around the waist. Other books were small German lady's girdle book of 1540
enough that they could be worn around the neck. A small chain
looped through a ring or two at the top of the binding was all
that was necessary to make it portable. Finally, a fourth type
of portable book was the vade mecum (go with me),
consisting of a booklet or folded sheets that contained an
almanac or medical information and could be suspended from
a belt. The text on a vade mecum would be arranged in such a
way as to be legible as someone unfolded the parchment,
rather than having to constantly reorient the sheets.[11]

According to The Medieval Girdle Book Project:

Containers and protective enclosures for books

have been in use since long before the Middle
Ages; the clay pots housing the Dead Sea Scrolls
come to mind as do the leather cylinders used to
store scrolls and clay tablets in the library at
Alexandria and others, and the cumbdachs used
by Irish monks to carry their precious
manuscripts and prayer books from place to
place, possibly even to Iceland, which they
reached as early as 700 AD.

Lack of literature A girdle book from Nuremberg from 1471

Despite their significant representation in art depicting

medieval clergy, there is a scarcity of literature outside of small communities seeking to recreate them. A wide
variety of craft books cover the creation of modern girdle books.[12] Many amateur historians have created
more technical overviews of "historically accurate" girdle books.[13] However, being such a specialized
technique, the girdle book lacks the attention given to more popular medieval binding methods in the
enthusiast community
Notable exceptions are the collaboration between Margit Smith of the University of San Diego and Jim
Bloxam of Cambridge University Library and Smith's monograph. [14] Their project seeks to "[bring] the
girdle book to the attention of professionals working with books as librarians, curators, teachers, book dealers
and collectors, and hand bookbinders, may increase appreciation of a book format, which, though small in
size, has some importance, but is now almost forgotten."[15]

Also, many more books were bound not as girdle books but as similarly protected chemise covered books.
Chemise covered books were often larger and designed for comfortable, stationary reading.[16]

See also
Cumdach
Vade mecum

Notes
1. See also: "girdle-books", The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Gordon Campbell. Oxford
University Press, 2003. Xavier University. 27 April 2010 [1] (http://www.oxfordreference.com/vie
ws/ENTRY.html?subview=Main&entry=t175.e1644)
2. K. Kup, "A Fifteenth Century Girdle Book", Bulletin of the New York Public Library. 43/6 (June
1939), 481.
3. Egan, Geoff and Pritchard, Frances. et al. "Girdles" Dress Accessories: c.1150-c.1450 Museum
of London, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1991.
4. Margit Smith and Jim Bloxam. "The Medieval Girdle Book Project" V3.N4. International Journal
of the Book Melbourne, Australia, 2005. Pg 7.
5. Raymond Clemens & Timothy Graham. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Cornell U Press.
2007. Pg 56-57.
6. "Girdles" Pg. 35-49.
7. "Girdle Book Slip-Cover" (http://aelflaed.homemail.com.au/doco/girdlebook.html), Crispin Sexi
(Jaysen Ollerenshaw), 2005. Accessed December 2006.
8. Bruckner, Ursula, Bruckner, "Beutelbuch-Originale", Studien zum Buch- und
Biblionthekswesen 9 (1995): 5-23. See also: " Rare and Beautiful Liturgical Manuscripts on
Display at The New York Public Library" (http://www.nypl.org/press/2002/liturgical.cfm).
Accessed December 2006.
9. "A Fifteenth Century Girdle Book" Pg 481
10. Manuscript Studies Pg56.
11. Manuscript Studies Pg56.
12. Diehn, Gwen. Making Books That Fly, Fold, Wrap, Hide, Pop Up, Twist & Turn: Books for Kids
to Make. Lark Books. New York. 1998.
13. Lady Gwerfyl verch Aneirin. "Late-Fifteenth-Century Girdle Book (Overcover and Cord
Closure). www.aneira.org. Accessed 04/46/2010.
14. Smith, Margit J. The medieval girdle book. New Castle, Delaware: Oak Knoll Press, 2017.
15. Margit Smith and Jim Bloxam. "The Medieval Girdle Book Project" V3.N4. International Journal
of the Book Melbourne, Australia, 2005
16. Raymond Clemens & Timothy Graham. Introduction to Manuscript Studies. Cornell U Press.
2007. Pg 56-57.

External links
 Pictures (http://www.minsky.com/st-francis-girdlebook.htm), from "The Book Art of Richard
Minsky".
Pictures (http://myhandboundbooks.blogspot.com/search/label/Girdle%20book), Replica Girdle
Books, by bookbinder Rhonda Miller
More Pictures (http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/hb/index.html), "Hand
Bookbindings: Large Small, Fixed and Portable" Princeton University Library.
Detailed pictures (https://www.flickr.com/photos/25300312@N08/sets/72157625022673359/wit
h/4998163808/) of a girdle book in the collections of the National Library of Sweden
Video (https://ucldigitalpress.co.uk/Book/Article/2/9/16/), Medieval chemise binding presented
by Frederick Bearman, Preservation Librarian, UCL Libraries.

Smith, Margit J. The medieval girdle book: A constant companion. Care and conservation of manuscripts 14:
Proceedings of the fourteenth international seminar held at the University of Copenhagen, 17th-19th October
2012; Copenhagen, Museum Tusculanum Press, 2014.

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