Timoty Leonardi

A full inspection of the incunabula preserved at the Newberry Library, Chicago, made it possible to select volumes with ancient bindings. Their contents were taken into consideration together with all the information useful to reconstruct their history such as ownerships, ex libris and other annotations. Special attention was paid to the pastedowns and flyfleaves, as a topical and constant marker, strictly connected to the original binding. All the bindings with pastedowns and flyleaves taken from liturgical MSS written in Italy were selected, and they turned out to be bound in 15th- or early 16th-century Italian bindings. These bindings and liturgical fragments, eight in number, are here described. There are three Antiphonars, two Legendaries, a Bible, a Missal and a Homiliary from different regions of Italy and from the 12th and 13th century.