@mastersthesis {13377, title = {Outside the Pages: The Making and Meaning of Early Medieval Book Covers}, year = {2022}, school = {Delaware}, abstract = {Looking outside the pages of early medieval manuscripts to the covers which encased them adds an extra dimension to our understanding of how those books were read, viewed, interpreted, and experienced by the people who made and used them. Through an exploration of eighth-century book covers, focusing on northwestern Europe, this study develops a novel framework for analyzing early medieval book covers based on three major functions they performed-encasement, embellishment, and enshrinement. Encasement refers to the multiple methods by which covers contain their pages to enhance their mobility and dissemination. Embellishment refers to the many ways covers enhance the visual interest of the book or represent the contents through decorative motifs or imagery. Enshrinement refers to the elevation of the sacred status of the book through the addition of a cover, usually of precious materials that reflect and enhance the religious value of the book. This framework is rooted in both the physicality of the book and in the dynamic interactions between books and their makers and users. This study also recontextualizes book covers from northwestern Europe within a highly interconnected early medieval world that encompasses the Mediterranean and Eurasia, a global view that reorients the covers as part of an ethos of experimentation that transcends their particular context. Through an innovative framework that is both holistic and global in its approach, this study uses early medieval book covers to come to a new understanding of the functioning of the physical book and the mechanisms of long-distance connections.}, keywords = {Northern Europe, Sixth to Tenth Century}, author = {Bachman, Christine} }