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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Ex Libris, post: 2284072, member: 14916&quot;]In the first post of this thread I haven&#039;t explained how this book fits in my collection. I started 20 years ago with just collecting &quot;old books&quot;. On a holiday in the Czech Republic I found an old book with the title page missing. I found out the book was from 1706 and printed by the Plantin Press in Antwerp. I took the book to the Plantin Moretus museum in Antwerp and they told me it was a breviary (book of prayers). After this I wanted to collect books printed by the Plantin press, but they were in general a bit too expensive for me. I decided to collect books that are printed in Antwerp before 1750.</p><p><br /></p><p>About 15 years ago I bought another book in the Czech Republic (that is a coincidence) with binding made of vellum that had medieval handwriting on it.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><font size="4">Binding of Catonis disticha moralia / cum scholiis D. Erasmi Roterodami (Prague 1571)</font></i></p><p>[ATTACH=full]257807[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>During the years of collecting I started interest in reused medieval vellum in old books. I learned that it is called &quot;disjecta membra&quot; (scattered fragments). It is even a part of science called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragmentology_(manuscripts)" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fragmentology_(manuscripts)" rel="nofollow">fragmentology</a>.</p><p><br /></p><p>Why do I find it so interesting? In the oldest times people shared information by telling each other stories. When writing was invented, people started producing scrolls and alter books the share information. When in the 15th century the book printing was invented by Gutenberg, the information sharing changed from manuscript to printed books. From that time the &quot;truth&quot; (whatever that is...) was printed and not written down anymore, so all old manuscripts became needless. Because vellum (that is animal skin) was a material that was very durable the bookbinders used it a lot to bind the books. Because the old manuscripts were not needed anymore they reused old manuscripts. </p><p>[ATTACH=full]257809[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>In our time we are living in a similar transition period of transferring information. From the printed books, information is now gathered digital (online). As in the beginning of book printing we as mankind have to find a way for dealing with this kind of information sharing. Think about social media, fake news, et cetera.</p><p><br /></p><p>So now about 30 of my about 350 books contain medieval manuscript fragments. Sometimes very small fragments, and sometimes the complete cover is made of it. </p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some examples from my collection:</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]257810[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Book covered in music score (plain chant)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]257811[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>My oldest fragment (Vulgate Bible, 10th century)</p><p>[ATTACH=full]257812[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>15th century golden initial in a 18th binding of a 16th century book...</p><p>[ATTACH=full]257813[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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