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Bookbindings in the British Library
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British Library contains a wide range of fine and historic bookbindings; however, books in the Library are organised primarily by subject rather than by binding so the Library has produced a guide to enable researchers to identity bindings of interest.[1] The collection includes the oldest intact Western bookbinding, the leather binding of the 7th century St Cuthbert Gospel.
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Some gifts by, or purchases from, collectors of bindings are registered and kept together.[2] A small number of bindings are always displayed in the Ritblat Gallery at the St Pancras site in London, and others can be examined in the reading rooms. There is also a display of the stamps and tools used for the books of George III near the entrance to the Conservation Centre.