Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)
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EDGE The edges are gilded, some also punched, usually not painted in the case of leather bindings. The exceptions discovered during the restoration are BEK Cod.Lat.5. and BEK Cod.Lat.2, which used to have leather covers (they were rebound in Turkey) still their edges were gilded as well as painted. The edges of the velvet covers are richly painted, showing colourful flower and foliage patterns. This decoration type was unique in contemporary Europe so we think that this edge could only be made in the workshop in Buda. The abbreviated titles of the books can often be read on the foredges. Gyula Végh prepared nice drawings of the corvinas and the edges one by one. The coloured edges of the 12 corvinas in the University Library, which were recovered from the Turks, had been maimed by the Turkish book binders. The leaves of BEK Cod.Lat.3. codex were cut 4 cm shorter at the tail. (Pictures 7) 7. Painted edge of corvina OSZK Cod.Lat.241. (before restoration) CHAIN Bonfini wrote that the corvinas lay on the shelves in the royal library with their front boards down, chained to the reading desk. The traces of the chains can be discovered on several covers, but, as far as we know, none of the chains survived. A hole can be seen in the wood board where the chain broke loose or was torn out, or a speck of rust shows its place. These traces were discovered during restoration. CONCLUSIONS Based on the so far discovered results of instrumental analyses and binding technical data it is too early to state with certainty that the corvinas were bound with a method characteristic of a single workshop. It is necessary, to broaden our scope, to examine codices preserved in foreign collections. Still, if we concentrate on the data we have we can see obvious uniformity and characteristics both in the materials used at binding and in the methods of binding technique. The very unique style of gilding supports the earlier theory that the bindery in the Buda castle prepared the leather and velvet bindings for king Matthias. It was often asked: who were King Matthias’s book binders? So far one name has emerged in Hungarian and international technical literature: Lucas Coronensis. The explanation is that his signature was found in the board of a Greek codex in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. It says “illigator librorum Budensis”, that is a book binder in Buda. This, however, does not prove that he was king Matthias’s book binder. Jolán Balogh questions even the authenticity of the remark.8 Éva Koroknay also doubts that Lucas Coronensis was a royal book binder. She thinks he must have been one of the “numerous book binders in 112
