Research project P4S/251/BIBLION (Research action P4S)
The BIBLION project (“Breaking Into Bindings through Lens Investigation and Observation using Noninvasive Technology”) is an interdisciplinary research programme dedicated to the study of historical bookbindings preserved at the Royal Library of Belgium. It focuses on a corpus of around eighty manuscripts and incunabula originating mainly from the former priories of Groenendael Priory, Rouge-Cloître, and Sept-Fontaines Priory, located in the Sonian Forest. Dating from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, these works bear witness to a transitional period in which medieval manuscript traditions coexisted with innovations linked to the rise of printing.
The project aims to renew the material study of early books through non-invasive scientific methods. Until now, research has mainly focused on texts and decoration, while bindings have remained relatively understudied. Yet bindings constitute an essential source of information on manufacturing techniques, materials, supply networks, and the uses of books within monastic communities.
At the heart of BIBLION lies the use of micro-computed tomography (micro-CT), an X-ray imaging technology that makes it possible to visualize the interior of bindings without dismantling or damaging the volumes. This method produces extremely high-resolution three-dimensional reconstructions that reveal features usually hidden from view: quire assembly, sewing structures, the internal construction of binding boards, old repairs, and successive modifications. A preliminary test carried out before the launch of the project demonstrated the potential of this approach: the analysis of one manuscript identified Baltic oak in the binding boards and dated the felling of the timber to after 1521.
The project therefore incorporates a significant dendrochronological component. This discipline relies on the study of tree growth rings in order to date wood and determine its geographical origin. Thanks to the images obtained through micro-CT, researchers can analyse the rings directly on virtual cross-sections without any physical intervention on the objects. The results are compared with databases developed by the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, particularly those relating to historical timber from Brussels and the Sonian Forest. These analyses provide a better understanding of timber supply networks, workshop material choices, and the economic relationships between monasteries and their surrounding environment.
At the same time, BIBLION conducts an in-depth codicological study of the volumes. This approach considers the book as a material object: binding structures, sewing techniques, decoration, traces of use, restorations, and the reuse of materials. Scientific data are cross-referenced with texts, ownership marks, and historical archives in order to reconstruct the complete history of each work and to better understand the cultural role of the Windesheim communities of canons regular in the former Low Countries.
The project is based on close collaboration between several Belgian institutions: the Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, the Royal Library of Belgium, the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, the Royal Museums of Art and History, and urban.brussels. Each partner contributes specific expertise in imaging, dendrochronology, codicology, archaeology, or digitisation.
As BIBLION places great importance on the dissemination of results, several outreach initiatives are planned before the end of the research programme. High-resolution images, 3D models, and descriptive data will gradually be made available online within an open science framework. Exhibitions, publications, and audiovisual productions will also help raise public awareness of the richness of written heritage and the contribution of new technologies to its preservation. Through its innovative approach, BIBLION thus contributes to renewing the material history of the medieval book and strengthening Belgium’s position in the heritage sciences.
