SEWING. A. Mattress, Box Spring, SLP B. Overcast and Label C. Xxxxxxx D. Quilt Machines E. Border Room III. MATTRESS
SEWING. Apart from the work of the copyist, the making of a codex starts with assembling and sewing the gatherings. In our sample, 950 manuscripts were sewn with a link-stitch. Of these, 850 were sewn with the predominant link-stitch on two stations (80% of the total, 89% of the link- stitched volumes). The other 100 manuscripts were sewn with a link-stitch sewing on more stations, 49 of them on four stations and 51 on three, five or more stations.29 The remaining manuscripts are either sewn differently, or not sewn at all. 38 Manuscripts were sewn with a stabbed sewing technique, two of those were overcasted and nineteen were side-sewn. The exact pattern of sewing of the other stabbed manuscripts was difficult to establish. A smaller group was sewn on supports, 30 in total, but fourteen of these are clearly of Western origin as a repair sewing; in these manuscripts the holes of the former link-stitch sewing stations are still visible. The other sixteen volumes sewn on supports bear evidence of Oriental origin. Of those, ten were sewn on leather or parchment strips, the majority of them are sewn across and only two are sewn around the support, including one manuscript that is sewn on one leather support, which is an odd, uncommon structure. Thin cords were used with the other six volumes; one of those was sewn with a two-on system and the other five were sewn gathering by gathering.30 In nine cases the sewing was so tight that the spine-folds could not be examined without causing damage, so that the type of sewing could not be determined. In 27 instances the manuscript was not sewn at all. In this group, twelve volumes had connective strips adhered onto the textblock spine, consisting of leather (six instances), cloth (two instances) or paper (four instances). No traces of connective strips or adhesive residues could be found on the other unsewn manuscripts. One manuscript has individually sewn gatherings but there is no connection between the gatherings, and the binding of this textblock is wrapped around it without any form of attachment.31 In terms of structure, this manuscript can be considered to be unsewn, which means that in the further analysis of the data the group of unsewn manuscripts with wrapper bindings is reckoned to consist of 28 volumes. Of the 149 manuscripts in which former sewing stations of a link-stitch on two stations were recognised, three are now stabbed, eleven sewn on four stations, and twelve on supports.
