ABSTRACT
The multiplying of books, with their bindings and decorations, were almost solely confined to the religious houses in the early ages of Christianity, and that it continued to be so until the invention of printing there is abundant proof. The art of bookbinding, it is seen, both as respects style, and variety of material for the covers, was far advanced at the period that witnessed the invention of printing. The earliest specimens of the external decoration of books that have been preserved to our day, is doubtless those of the Diptych, one class of which have been described. The ornament seen on the diptych soon became common on the choice books of the church, and the plain wooden cover was adorned with all the ingenuity that wealth and taste could bestow. The Bedford Missal is, perhaps, as splendid a specimen of the taste and ingenuity of the monks, as any extant.
