BOOK FITTING

Copper-alloy book clasp of the type with hinged perforated end. The plate is now quite corroded, and has frame recesses and two rivet holes. A single copper-alloy rivet survives in one of the holes. The plate is 10 mm wide. The hinged end is made from a different metal, darker and less corroded; perhaps cast rather than hammered. It has two projecting ends holding a bar on which the plate and end are hinged. Beyond this it has rounded edges, a convex top and a flat reverse, and is 12 mm wide. In the centre is a circular hole, 3.5 mm in diameter. Opposite the plate is a stylised animal-head terminal with two pointed ears and open jaws which hold a ball. Through the open jaws, behind the ball, is a perforation 2.5 mm in diameter. Clasps of this type were attached to a strap on one cover of the book. They worked by fitting the larger perforation over a peg on the opposite cover; the perforation in the animal-head terminal probably held a cord loop which helped to pull the clasp from the peg. Pegs are very rarely found. Similar examples from London were found in contexts of c. 1350-1450 (Egan 1998, nos. 919-25).