Albrecht Dürer’s Material Renaissance
exhibition labels
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Peter Lombard, Sentences
(Nuremberg: Anton Koberger, 1491)
Tooled pigskin on wood covers, with brass clasps, bosses and chain (iron?)
Purchased 2017.
Rare Books, Archives and Special Collections.
UniM Bail RTB/1 Incunabula
Renaissance religious houses were sites of innovative material knowledge and practice. This book was bound by Carmelite friars in Bamberg, a prince-bishopric to which Nuremberg’s churches were subject. Pigskin has been stamped by metal dies to create repeated patterns and then placed over wooden covers. On the inside covers, no-longer-valued manuscripts were pasted down to provide additional strength and protection. Brass clasps, bosses, and a chain complete the binding. Books were often chained in institutional libraries to prevent them wandering.
Inner front cover
Inner front cover
Inner front cover, detail