The image above presents a model of a Carolingian binding model featuring re-used, stitched together leather scraps for the cover. The term ‘Carolingian’ refers to the style and technique of bookbinding during the Carolingian period, roughly in the 8th and 9th centuries. It has an interesting appearance due to the re-use of scrap leather in the material for the cover.

By using scrap pieces of leather sewn together, you can create a single piece for the cover of a book. Although taken to the extreme in this Carolingian binding, it isn’t rare to find at least a few manuscripts with covers made from several stitched-together pieces. This likely stems from the fact of labour being more expensive than the materials, at the time.

Carolingian binding construction

Before sewing the bookblock, I must prepare the boards for the Carolingian binding. Traditionally, these were crafted from oak, with occasional use of beech, poplar, or plane wood. However, for this model, I opted for MDF (medium-density fiberboard) due to its ease of handling. I meticulously drill and carve holes and channels to accommodate 3 mm thick flax cords, ensuring they lie flush with the board’s surface. Upon closer inspection, you’ll notice three V-shaped depressions where I added these channels.

After preparing the boards, I sew the quires onto the supports using thinner flax yarn of approximately 0.75 mm. The model contains three sewing supports, which are recognizable on the spine as three bumps.

The flyleaves of this manuscript were not glued to the boards. This reveals part of the normally hidden structure. For example, one can clearly see the three cords of the support, which are also visible through the leather along the spine.

Endbands

Unlike in model A, I used fully supported straight sewing for the endbands in this version. This time, I used the same thread for binding the quires. Additionally, I constructed these endbands much more consistently than in my first attempt. Unfortunately, I still made a structural mistake. This causes them to loosen when opening the book. As a result, they don’t lie flat on the quires as expected.

The mistake is most apparent in the bottom endband of the opened model, where threads are visible running into the center of the quires. I believe the error occurred because I looped into the quires from the wrong core thread and failed to properly tighten the endband overall. Opening the book may allow threads to be pulled from the spine, core, or quires. This, I believe, caused endband to move up and remain in a vertical position.

Fastening

For this second Carolingian model, I made an attempt at creating a clasp by folding around the leather strap. The attachment point consists of the usual ⌀ 4 mm brass rod, milled into a hook. I needed to file the hook because the clasp would easily detach itself simply by stacking a book on top of this model. Tightening the clasp is a true balancing act between ease of use and the degree of tension to hold it in place.