Sermones de Tempore

[Germany, 14th-15th century]

Shoults MS.03

___

Pigskin was extensively used as a cover for books in northern Europe, in particular Germany, from where this manuscript of sermons originated. Pigskin can be differentiated from vellum by the characteristic follicle pattern of three little dots in triangular groups, as visible at the bottom of this cover. The pigskin is wrapped over bevelled wooden boards, and has blind-tooled diagonal lines that create a lozenge pattern known as the diaper design. The manuscript – supposedly a survivor of the Great Fire of London in 1666 – was once chained, with the remains of a chain hasp (a metal fastening) at top centre. The clasps over the fore-edge have also long gone.