Breviarium

This rare example of a medieval girdle book, an early portable book, is covered in a large piece of leather knotted at one end—a structure that enabled its owner to tuck it into his belt, or girdle. Brother Sebaldus, prior of the Benedictine monastery in Kastl, in what is now Germany, identifies himself as the owner and scribe of this breviarium, or breviary, a type of book used for praying the canonical hours. Executed with little attention to the layout or beauty of the lettering, and lacking the lavish illuminations typical of the period, this utilitarian volume’s only illustrations are four modest hand-colored woodcuts pasted into the interior, an example of which is pictured at left.