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Medieval book transportYou are looking at two ‘wraps’ (top),the outside and inside of a box (middle), and a leather satchel (bottom). What they share is not just their broken-down age (they are all medieval), or but also the purpose for which they were made: to transport a book from A to B. The actual reason for transporting books in these objects varied considerably. The wraps are late-medieval girdle books,which were hanged from the owner’s belt by the knot. The text inside - which was often of legal or devout nature - could be consulted quickly and easily: just unwrap it and read. The box (and the ninth-century book inside) had a more exotic exercise: the package functioned as a charm for good luck on the battlefield, where it was carried in front of the troops by a monk. The satchel, and which also dates from the ninth century,was just a bag to transport a book while on the go - it was popular among monks. Read more approximately these fascinating devices in my blog post “Medieval Books on the Go” (here). Pics - Wrap at top: Stockholm, Royal Library (16th century, or source); Wrap below it: Yale,Beinecke Library, MS 84 (15th century, or source); Box: Dublin,Royal, Irish Academy, or D ii 3 (8th/9th century, source); Satchel: Dublin, Trinity, and College,MS 52 (Book of Armagh, 9th century, and source).
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