A RARE 15th century French Gothic book chest, thought to have been used for storing and transporting religious texts, has been acquired by the Bodleian Library.
Thousands of manuscripts and printed books survive from medieval Europe but just over 100 book coffers are known to be in existence.
The book box forms the centrepiece of a new display at the Bodleian’s Weston Library, titled Thinking Inside the Box: Carrying Books Across Cultures, which opened on January 19 and continues until Sunday, February 17.
The coffer is a small wooden chest, complete with a vividly coloured woodcut print depicting ‘God the Father in Majesty’. It was acquired from a dealer with support from Art Fund, the Bodleian’s Kenneth Rose Fund and the Friends of the Bodleian.
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The Bodleian hold one of the largest collections of medieval manuscripts and early printed texts in the world but boxes and other objects for storing and transporting books rarely survive.
Dr Christopher Fletcher, Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian, said: “The Bodleian collects books and manuscripts but also objects which helps us to understand the history and culture of the book – how they were kept, used, moved and understood. The coffer is a remarkable item which is both utilitarian and devotional and preserves an exceptionally rare woodcut in its original context.
“Among other things, it shows us that our preoccupation with carrying information around with us in mobile devices – including texts and images – is nothing new.”
This is the first coffer of its kind to enter the library collections.
It is hoped that the book chest will help researchers, curators and visitors understand more about how items were stored, transported or used in the very early days of printing in Europe.
The majority of surviving book chests date to the 1500s. The Bodleian’s 500-year-old coffer is made of wood covered in leather, reinforced with iron fittings, hinges and a lock.
The inside lid contains a fragile image dated to about 1491 and a prayer, in Latin, used as a chant on special feast days. Only four impressions of this woodprint are known to survive, dating from the very early days of printing in Europe.
What the book chest was designed to hold remains a mystery.
It could have held a richly illuminated Book of Hours, alongside other Christian devotional books or materials, such as a rosary.
Book chests were protected inside by a lining of red canvas and in this instance it has survived and is largely intact.
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