By Flavio Marzo, Head of Conservation at the Cambridge Colleges' Conservation Consortium

A lost sewing structure. A trip to Winchester which turns up an unexpected clue. A conservator looking for answers. 

This is the case of CCCC MS 328. 

I am Flavio Marzo, Head of Conservation at the CCCC. You can read more about me and my team, the work we do, and past projects here. 

In our line of work, we know that every document has a story to tell. The story of MS 328, belonging to the Parker Library at Corpus Christi College, begins in the eleventh century, when its first part (about the life of St. Dunstan) was written. A second part was added to the volume over 100 years later, containing material on Cluniac saints. 

In its more recent history, the volume was disbound in the late 1990s and early 2000s as part of the Parker Library’s digitisation project for Parker on the Web. Until it was disbound, the volume had a more recent binding, done in the eighteenth century by a Cambridge bookbinder. Of its original twelfth-century structure, very little remained. When it came to the CCCC studio in 2024, it was in individual sections housed in an archival box.  My task was to rebind it into a structure that would protect it and allow safe access by readers, as well as providing a historically correct and pleasing appearance to an important early manuscript.

Unbound sections of MS 328 prior to conservation

I began with a forensic examination of the sections, looking for details that might give something away about its production and early structures. The presence of multiple sewing holes suggested that the volume had been bound at least twice in its history – first in the twelfth century when the two parts were sewn together, and then again in the eighteenth-century binding. Interestingly, there is no clear sign of a third early sewing structure, the one that would have involved only the first part of the manuscript dating from the eleventh century. This indicates that this first part was possibly kept unbound until it was bound with the second one more than a century later, when the manuscript was moved from Canterbury to Winchester.

Diagram of second eighteenth-century structure, where A indicates kettle stitches, and B indicates sewing support holes. 

I wanted to use the original twelfth-century sewing structure to rebind the volume, but with the abundance of sewing holes present, it was difficult to tell precisely what that structure had been. How many sewing supports did it have? How were they spaced? Were the endbands integral, i.e. executed at the same time as the sewing? What kind of materials were used? I had many questions, but few answers. 

Thanks to an ownership inscription on the first flyleaf, I did know that the volume, before arriving here at the Parker Library, belonged to Winchester Cathedral priory. It was likely that the two parts were bound together there in the twelfth century.  So, Winchester seemed as good a place as any to continue my investigation. 

On an afternoon in early September, I took a trip to Winchester Cathedral library to look at the manuscripts there. To my surprise and delight, I discovered a manuscript which could have been MS 328’s twin, of very similar dimensions, and with very similar spacings for the supports and kettle stitches. This manuscript (MS 20, Hegesippus) was bound at Winchester Cathedral Priory in the twelfth century. Due to their similarities, there is a good chance that it was sewn at a similar time and possibly even by the same binder of MS 328. 

MS 20 Hegesippus, Winchester Cathedral Library. It is sewn on two split alum-tawed thongs, and covered with leather.

A discovery like this is incredibly unique, as it is rare to be able to trace the provenance of a manuscript so far back in history, let alone to find something that was likely bound by the same hand. Looking at MS 328’s Winchester twin, whose twelfth-century features were still intact, I could see that the endbands had been sewn separately from the main sewing, not at the same time, as I’d originally thought. The manuscript was sewn on two split alum tawed thongs, as is typical in Romanesque bindings, and the two kettle stiches were sewn around small cord reinforcements. 

When it came to resewing MS 328, I was able to replicate these features, amazed at being able to link my work to the twelfth-century structure. I added a non-adhesive, sewn, alum-tawed spine lining, and then laced the sewing supports and endband cores into quarter-sawn oak boards. I used alum-tawed leather as a covering material, creating tabs at the head and tail of the spine. I then sewed the spine lining to the tabs via perimetral sewing, connecting cover, bookblock and sewing together in a way that allowed the manuscript to move and open beautifully. Finally, the volume was housed in a bespoke drop-spine box, along with its eighteenth-century cover. Take a look at the image gallery at the bottom of the page for some additional in-progress images!

Sewing MS 328 on a sewing frame, on two split alum-tawed thongs with cord reinforcements for the kettle stitches. The original twelfth-century sewing holes are used.

Boards attached via alum-tawed lacings and sewn spine lining

Finished manuscript rebound in alum-tawed leather

Being a conservator allows you to look backwards in time, reading small physical details about an object that reveal themselves only during the conservation treatment. In the case of MS 328, which has now returned to the Parker Library to be safely perused by readers, I can finally say – case closed!

MS 328 open after rebinding