Medieval Book Coffers

Book coffers were used to store and transport manuscripts during the Middle Ages. Few examples survive. In 2017, the Bodleian Libraries acquired a rare book coffer (or coffret), produced in Paris around 1491.

Measuring 215 x 320 x 140 mm, this book coffer was made of wood covered with leather. The flat cover was reinforced with 9 iron fittings, hinges, and a lock. The interior was lined with red canvas, no cushion, and a devotional woodcut was inserted in the inside lid.

This colored woodcut shows God the Father in Majesty, and it is one of only five impressions of this print to be known. It must have been valued by its owner to find a home in this rare book-box, which, in turn, may have carried religious texts.

This rare medieval book coffer is the topic of an article in issue 16 of Medieval World: Culture & Conflict, authored by the Keeper of Special Collections at the Bodleian Library, Dr. Christopher Fletcher.

To learn more about this rare object and other portable containers of the medieval and modern periods, explore the exhibition Thinking Inside the Box: Carrying Books Across Cultures.

Below, expert Sandra Hindman - professor emerita of art history at Northwestern University in Chicago and the owner of the Les Enluminures galleries in Paris, New York, and Chicago - discusses these rare medieval book coffers and their remarkable French prints.