15th century bookmark with column indicator

Sermones aurei de Sanctis Fratris Leonardi de Vtino

Sermones aurei de Sanctis Fratris Leonardi de Utino Venice: Franciscus Renner, de Heilbronn, with Nicolaus de Frankfordia, 1473. (Goff L-152) Call number: ExI 5428.579

Although this incunable was rebound in 1945, a remnant of the original 15th century binding was laid in — a bookmark with a rotating column-indicator. ❧ Other examples are known, such as:
• Harvard University, Houghton MS Typ 277, 12th c. [link to image] Register bookmark with adjustable dial set between column II and III (i.e. col. B verso and col. A recto [not pictured]) [See the recent posting discussing this Houghton example in the blog medievalfragments (Institute for Cultural Disciplines, Universiteit Leiden)].
• Medieval Rotating Column-Indicators: An Unrecorded Second Example in a Thirteenth Century Bible (Cambridge, Corpus Christi College Ms 49) by Richard Emms published in Transactions of the Cambridge Bibliographical Society, Vol. 12, No. 2 (2001), pp. 179-184 [Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41154907]

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About Stephen Ferguson

Stephen Ferguson is Librarian Emeritus, Princeton University Library. He came to Princeton in 1975 to be Curator of Rare Books, after several years of professional work at the John Carter Brown Library (Brown University) and the National Heritage Museum (Lexington, Mass.). Between 2014 and 2026, he held various posts as an Associate University Librarian at Princeton. He has degrees from Bowdoin (A.B.) and Rutgers (M.L.S.). His scholarly interests include book history, provenance research, and the history of collecting. He has taught at Drew University on the latter topic.

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