Book covers

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 Info
Book cover
c. 750
Ivory, gems, pearls
Museo Archeologiga, Cividale del Friuli


Book cover
850-69
Ivory
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris


Book cover
c. 810
Ivory
Victoria and Albert Museum, London


Book cover
c. 810
Ivory
Victoria and Albert Museum, London


Book cover
c. 810
Ivory
Biblioteca Apostolica, Vatican


Book cover
870
Gold, gems and pearls, 420 x 330 mm
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich


Book cover
850-1000
Ivory
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna


Book cover
850-1000
Ivory
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna


Book cover
10th century
Ivory
Universitätsbibliothek, Frankfurt


Book cover
982-83
Ivory
Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris


Book cover
c. 1010
Ivory, precious stones
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich


Book cover
c. 1000
Gold, jewels and ivory, 334 x 242 mm
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich


Book Cover
1190s
Wooden core, silver, 30 x 23 cm
Herzog Anton Ulrich-Museum, Braunschweig


Book Cover
1260s
Silver and gilt, 39 x 27 cm
St. Paul, Lavanttal, Carinthia


Book Cover
1339
Wood with miniatures, rock crystal, 35 x 26 cn
Kunstgewerbemuseum, Berlin


Binding of a Book of Hours
1533
Silver
Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris


Cover of the Gospels of Henry the Lion
1594
Silverwork, 340 x 255 mm
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich



Summary of illuminated manuscripts (miniatures)
Late Antique and Pre-Romanesque periods
351-400 | 401-450 | 451-500 | 501-550 | 551-600 | 601-650 | 651-700
701-750 | 751-800 | 801-850 | 851-900 | 901-950 | 951-1000
Romanesque period
1001-1050 | 1051-1100 | 1101-1150
Early and High Gothic periods
1151-1200 | 1201-1250 | 1251-1300
Late Gothic and Renaissance periods
1301-1350 | 1351-1400 | 1401-1450 | 1451-1500 | 1501-1550
Book covers
Illuminations by known masters
List of illuminators



© Web Gallery of Art, created by Emil Krén and Daniel Marx.