A codex is a book constructed of a number of sheets of paper, vellum, papyrus, or similar materials, with hand-written contents. The book is usually bound by stacking the pages and fixing one edge, and using a cover thicker than the sheets. While the codex was ubiquitous in the west from the 5th century onwards, the oldest extant western binding encloses the St Cuthbert Gospels, c. 700.

The earliest codices had simple, not very durable binding. A sturdier type was developed in the Carolingian period which was in use (and of course evolving) from the 8th through to the 12th centuries in Europe. For codices ordered or owned by rulers and rich monasteries, luxurious jeweled book covers were produced by goldsmiths and ivory carvers. Some these book covers survived, a prime example is the cover for the Codex Aureus of St. Emmeram.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Book cover c. 750 Ivory, gems, pearls Museo Archeologiga, Cividale del Friuli	1032*1300 True Color 247 Kb
	Book cover 850-69 Ivory Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris	812*1300 True Color 218 Kb
	Book cover c. 810 Ivory Victoria and Albert Museum, London	850*1160 True Color 232 Kb
	Book cover c. 810 Ivory Victoria and Albert Museum, London	855*1200 True Color 231 Kb
	Book cover c. 810 Ivory Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican	749*997 True Color 190 Kb
	Book cover 870 Gold, gems and pearls, 420 x 330 mm Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich	800*1002 True Color 245 Kb
	Book cover 850-1000 Ivory Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna	811*1300 True Color 194 Kb
	Book cover 850-1000 Ivory Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna	800*1322 True Color 223 Kb
	Book cover 10th century Ivory Universitätsbibliothek, Frankfurt	586*1700 True Color 231 Kb
	Book cover 982-83 Ivory Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris	700*1215 True Color 139 Kb
	Book cover c. 1010 Ivory, precious stones Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich	726*1000 True Color 177 Kb
	Book cover c. 1000 Gold, jewels and ivory, 334 x 242 mm Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich	917*1200 True Color 231 Kb
	Book Cover 1190s Wooden core, silver, 30 x 23 cm Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig	800*1086 True Color 188 Kb
	Book Cover 1260s Silver and gilt, 39 x 27 cm St. Paul, Lavanttal, Carinthia	650*927 True Color 201 Kb
	Book Cover 1339 Wood with miniatures, rock crystal, 35 x 26 cn Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin	750*973 True Color 194 Kb
	Binding of a Book of Hours 1533 Silver Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris	1000*1063 True Color 184 Kb
	Cover of the Gospels of Henry the Lion 1594 Silverwork, 340 x 255 mm Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich	959*1200 True Color 218 Kb