{"id":6848,"date":"2017-09-08T14:55:27","date_gmt":"2017-09-08T18:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6848"},"modified":"2017-10-02T11:53:58","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:53:58","slug":"bound-with-care-rare-book-bindings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vault217.gmu.edu\/?p=6848","title":{"rendered":"Bound with Care: Rare Book Bindings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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View of the PA Rare Books shelf, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries<\/p><\/div>\n

When researching with rare books, it is important to remember that rare books contain so much more information than just the words found on the page!<\/p>\n

In the General Collections, the focus of a book is usually the text and the information contained therein. While this continues to be an important aspect of researching with a rare book, in Special Collections researchers can also glean additional, important information from the physical structure of the book. How was the book constructed? Does it the book contain its original binding? Does the book have a later historical binding? These questions (and others!) can reveal additional areas of inquiry and research.<\/p>\n

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Diagram of the parts of a medieval book binding, by Jane Greenfield, from\u00a0Catalogue of Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, Volume 1: MSS 1-250,\u00a0<\/em>by Barbara Shailor<\/p><\/div>\n

When discussing historical bindings, the Rare Books stacks of the Special Collections Research Center are filled with examples of book bindings from different periods of history. Highlighted here are two of my favorite bindings in the Special Collections Research Center stacks.<\/p>\n