A hammer or mallet was employed
to obtain an impression from the stamp. Sometimes the
oak boards were not covered with skin but were painted.
[1] Bateson, Med. Eng., 86.
If a book was specially prized the binding was often
rich. The covers of the Gospels of Lindau, a superb
example of Carolingian art, bear nearly five hundred gems
encrusted in gold.[1] Abbot Paul of St. Albans gave to his
church two books adorned with gold and silver and gems.
Abbot Godfrey of Malmesbury, partly to meet a heavy tax
imposed by William Rufus, stripped twelve Gospels of their
decorations. "Books are clothed with precious stones," cried
St. Jerome, "whilst Christ's poor die in nakedness at the
door."[2] In spite of the many references to jewelled
monastic bindings in medieval records, very few are extant.
[1] Now in Mr. Pierpont Morgan's library, Illustrated in La
Bioliofilia, xi. 169.
[2] Cf. Register of S. Osmund, ii. 127. Textus unus aureus magnus
continens saphiros xx., et smaragdos [emeralds] vi., et thopasios
viii., et alemandinas [? carbuncle or ruby] xviii., et gernettas
[garnets] viii., et perlas xii. Also i.
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