Title: Carmina
Author: Horace
Published/Created: Italy, ca.1490
Owner: Morgan Library & Museum, Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts
Dimensions: H 20.4cm x W 12.4cm x D 3.7cm
The book was rebound around 1790 in full red-brown calfskin with gold tooling. The spine had five raised cords and front bead endbands. The parchment textblock was written in black, red, and blue inks, with extensive marginalia on selected leaves. It retained original parchment endsheets, with additional marbled paper endsheets, and its edges were trimmed and colored green.
The major condition issues were the completely detached covers and a split textblock, with most of the spine leather missing. While the parchment textblock was in good condition, the black writing media was slightly friable, though the remaining media was stable.
As the previous rebinding was failing, I decided to rebind the book in a more flexible structure to improve opening, particularly to accommodate the marginalia extending into the gutter. I also aimed to rebind the book in a style more sympathetic to its period, reflecting 15th-century Italian bindings. To inform this treatment and a similar one for the Neapolitan Book of Hours, I researched and surveyed 15th-century Italian bindings and created book models to test various sewing and binding structures. Through this process, I found that sewing on thin supports, a spine without adhesive, and a baggy back provided the flexibility needed for wide opening. Additionally, typical period features included three sewing supports, inward-beveled wooden boards, and tanned leather coverings with blind tooling.
The treatment began by cleaning the spine to separate the gatherings, during which a collation diagram was recorded. The outermost folios were cleaned and mended as necessary before the textblock was sewn all-along on three twisted alum-tawed thongs using linen thread. A slotted spine lining was created and fitted around the spine, with the thongs laced through it. Plain wound endbands were sewn through the spine lining for additional support.
For the new boards, three layers of mat board were laminated, trimmed to size, and shaped. The alum-tawed slips were laced into the boards through drilled holes and channels. The book was then covered in medium brown goat leather, and the covers were blind-tooled with triple-line pallets, forming three concentric rectangles.
This treatment was carried out in consultation with Frank Trujillo.
