THE MUDÉJAR BOOKBINDINGS WITH INTERLACES OF THE CATHEDRAL OF TOLEDO.

Abstract

The Mudejar style between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries in the Iberian Peninsula is specially remarkable, within the history of the Spanish bookbinding, outstanding some of the works done in the city of Toledo. The Capitular Library of Toledo’s Cathedral has one of the most important collections qualitatively and quantitatively speaking, though its state of preservation is not the best one in many of the items. This work pretends to study and analize the different kinds of mudéjar bookbindings with interlaces, a typical style of decoration of cities like Toledo, Salamanca and Barcelona. A study of the decorative structures, artistic elements, tecniques of decoration and construction has been done as well as the materials used for their making. With all these elements we have been able to establish the origin of each bookbinding according to its decorative structure, the individual decorative motifs, the watermark of the original flyleaves and the kind of tops.