This book is the second manuscript I created, containing Ecclesiastes from the Dutch translation of the bible known as the 1975 Willibrordvertaling. Ecclesiastes is one of the “Wisdom” books of the Old Testament in the Bible. In it, the writer proclaims all human actions to be “vain”, “futile” or “insubstantial”.
The bookbinding (shown above) was made using oak boards from local trees, which were then covered with textiles. Copper sheets show the text “VERBA ECCLESIASTES FILII DAVID” around a woodcut of an owl. The plate was then lined with various gemstones.
The text is written on paper, after which the contents were decorated with tempera paint mixed with colored pigments and 24 karat gold leaf. It is bound in a 15th-century style using oak boards from local oaks.