see books for the first time
Richard Minsky’s
gallery is the place to go to prompt your own insights into the future of the traditional book.
papyrus precursor
Everyone knows about the
Stonyhurst Gospel and the features of the earliest surviving western bookbinding. Because this 7th century book still exists it has established its own mindset about the structure and decoration of books that were at Lindisfarne at the time of St. Cuthbert.
The precursors of the Stonyhurst, the exemplars that the makers of this gospel had at hand to influence them, are conjecture and they may have been exotic. At least they may have included earlier, papyrus books. These would have been carefully preserved by Coptic and eastern church refugees escaping from chaos in the east of the Roman empire and brought with them all the way to Northumberland.
The Stonyhurst has certain features that may echo those papyrus precursors. These include the turn-in over the pastedown reflecting the wrapping of the papyrus cartonnage, or the relief decoration that echoes the cut and sewn filigree of Coptic decoration.
The model shown is an imaginary Stonyhurst precursor.