Straps, Tabs and Strings: Book-Marks in the Codices of the St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai

Abstract

The paper examines the bookmarks recorded in the manuscript collection of the St Catherine’s Monastery Library in Sinai. It proposes a consistent classification and terminology and examines in detail the three main types of bookmarks, the board strap markers, the endband string markers and the leaf tab markers using the physical evidence collected through the St Catherine’s Library Conservation Project as well as iconographical evidence from Byzantine works of art. The bookmark structure, function and materials are explained in detail, and line drawings of their shape and construction are also provided. Special attention is given to leather straps fixed on the boards of codices which have been interpreted as ‘lifting tabs’ in the past and which are now reinterpreted as bookmarks.

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