Introduction: Text and Textile: Connecting the Local and the Global

About Textiles in Manuscripts: A Local and Global History of the Book

Preserved between the covers of books, textiles offer a remarkable glimpse into how the local production of books was connected to vibrant global trade networks from late antiquity through the early modern period. Textiles appear in manuscripts in many forms: as a delicate overlay used to adorn or protect a precious painted illumination; as silk robes wrapping sacred texts; as the sturdy fabric that supports an intricately sewn binding; as a repurposed bit of cloth, taken from a liturgical vestment, concealed within the volume to convey sacrality. This volume brings together a range of experts to unpack the vivid and surprising history of textiles in manuscripts, ranging from practical uses to the ornamental and beyond. The historical account they offer is both local and global: local, in that each chapter is tightly focused on a single tradition, or even a single book; global, in that together these chapters illuminate the rich web of interconnections that link the cultural and craft centers of Europe, Asia, and Africa.