Coptic binding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coptic binding is a bookbinding method that was used by the Copts in the 3rd and 4th centuries CE for the gospel of Thomas and other Gnostic manuscripts found in 1945, buried in a jar near the Egyptian village of Nag Hammadi. Papyrus sheets were folded in half and attached at midpoint to a leather cover, stiffened by cartonnage (used but no longer needed pieces of papyrus).