Exploring the Early Multi-quire Codex

This workshop will provide an introduction to the book in the first millennium C.E., focusing on early examples of the multi-quire codex. Participants will look at the development and transmission of both structural and decorative features from Egypt, to European and Islamic binding traditions. This is a subject of great importance to both book conservators and book binders.

The workshop will include:

Short morning lectures on the development of the codex during the first millennium, including the development of different binding structures and techniques of decoration;

Examination and discussion of models of early codex structures based on surviving exemplars from the 4th to the 10th centuries;

Production of actual-size models of extant multi-quire codices from manuscript collections at the Chester Beatty, Dublin, and Cambridge University Library.

Participants will discuss and compare different structural elements such as cover-to-textblock attachment, types of board composition, the choice of textblock material, and the effect each of these elements on the overall structure of the book.
This course is designed to introduce participants to the development of the codex in the first-millennium, and the inextricable link between material, form and functionality of the codex. The use of first-millennium structures throughout the hand bookbinding era is of continued importance today in understanding both the history of the codex and the characteristics of contemporary book art structures.