Girdle book

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A book hangs from a monk's girdle, ready for instant use and protected from thieves and the elements.

Girdle books were small portable books worn by medieval monks, clergymen and nobles as a popular accessory to medieval costume between the 13th and 16th centuries. It 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 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. It 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).

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 books had become much more common.^[1] There are hundreds of artistic representations of girdle books, but only 23 medieval girdle books have survived in their original binding, the oldest datable example being from Kastl, Germany (ca. 1453).^[2]

Girdle books were a variant on other forms of medieval book-binding where 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.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ "Girdle Book Slip-Cover", Crispin Sexi (Jaysen Ollerenshaw), 2005. Accessed December 2006.
2. ^ " Rare and Beautiful Liturgical Manuscripts on Display at The New York Public Library". Accessed December 2006.

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Girdle books

• Pictures, from bookbinder Rodrigo Ortega.
• Pictures, from "The Book Art of Richard Minsky".
• Pictures, The Law of Jutland. Denmark c. 1490. Rostgaard 6 8º. Parchment, 135 fols.