Leather Folder, Turkey, 1817-18 CE / 1233 AH, Leather, pasteboard, tooled and stamped, AKM1006

Leather Folder, Turkey, 1817-18 CE / 1233 AH, Leather, pasteboard, tooled and stamped, AKM1006

This leather folder or document case (Turkish cilbend or ciltbend) is made with semi-rigid pasteboard covered by fine leather and impressed with a raised design. The innovative techniques developed by bookbinders were made possible by the lightweight and impressionable surface of the pasteboard. The decorative tooling here is made from a single stamp reused to decorate many books. The raised tooling, stamped on the cover in Persian, reads: 'Prevent sorrow from flowering in your heart / By always reading the book of joy.' The three technologies seen in this case -- pasteboard, gold tooling, and decorative leatherwork -- had an enormous impact on European bookbinding beginning in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.

Aga Khan Museum

1817-18 CE / 1233 AH

Photographer Credit: Courtesy of the Aga Khan Museum

Aga Khan Museum

Dimensions: H. 28.1 cm × W. 17.5 cm

Materials: Leather, pasteboard, tooled and stamped

Farsi

AKM1006

Turkey