Coptic Bookbinding Fragments

This group consists of fragments from ancient Coptic bookbindings, produced in Egypt between the seventh and tenth centuries. The catalogued assembly encompasses eight distinct bookbinding fragments under museum accession numbers L.1151-1939 and L.1160 to 65b-1939, held in the National Art Library collection.

The items are constructed from blind-tooled leather applied over papyrus boards. The preserved pieces include a dark brown leather cover fragment and an elongated strip of binding structure. The surface of the dark leather fragment displays linear and geometric patterns created using blind tooling, with underlying fibrous papyrus board visible at the edges and losses. The adjoining elongated fragment displays structural elements of early binding, showing exposed layered papyrus board bound with transverse cords and stitching. The record contains no specific maker attributions, dimensions, or recorded inscriptions.