Preferred label
spine tabs
Note (en)
Note
Pieces of thick animal skin, usually alum-tawed, secured to the head or tail of the spine (or occasionally as a continuous strip) by the external tiedowns and which project above the endbands to form a tab. The tabs were trimmed to a variety of profiles and the primary cover was often trimmed to the same shape and sewn to the edge of the tab with decorative sewing.
Historical/cultural note
Note (en)
Note
Tabs were a characteristic feature of Carolingian and Romanesque bindings and fell out of use by at least the mid-thirteenth century.
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