Italian Knot-tack Sewing: A Reliable Hypothesis on a Late Medieval Technique

Abstract

ABSTRACT The knot-tack is a technique for sewing books on double supports which features a prominent knot settled over the centre of split-strap sewing supports. This method can be found in archive and library bindings, on manuscripts or printed-books, with stiff or limp covers. Up until a few years ago, the knot-tack had only been observed in books from Austria and described by Eleonore Klee. Recent findings at the Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana in Venice (Italy), followed by new sightings in central Italy have opened the way to an expansion of Klee’s observations. Whilst the relationship between the Austrian and the Italian knot-tack sewing structures is not yet clear, this essay aims to describe, with the aid of pictures, the path of the thread in the making of the knot. It presents a number of possible applications for the book conservator, who can make effective use of the knot-tack sewing.