Yesterday the EthiCodex team had a visit from the book conservator and historian of bindings, Georgios Boudalis. He led a workshop in which we made models of a single-quire codex (Nag Hammadi Codex VI).
Making a model always involves choices of both materials and methods. In this case, we had a day to do the workshop, and we wanted to focus on understanding the basic structures of the Nag-Hammadi-style binding. So, we wanted to use fairly easy-to-work-with materials. Paper made for a more pliable quire and pared leather made for easier folding and pasting. The papyrus-mache boards for the covers were replaced with papyrus-lined poster board.
We relied on the photos and descriptions in James Robinson’s facsimile edition of the Nag Hammadi codices and Julia Miller’s chapter on the covers in Meeting by Accident.
The results were very nice looking books that give a sense of the size and feel of an early single-quire codex.
It was an enjoyable day with lots of good conversations about the ins and outs of single-quire codices. Thanks to Georgios and all the participants!
The Early History of the Codex 