Treasure binding. German, late 12th or early 13th century. Faded
red velvet over wooden boards. Upper cover fashioned from gilt
metal plate, sunk into wood, decorated with jewels, rock crystal,
and antique cameos; with central figure of a seated king and four
evangelists worked in metal relief. Jewelled or 'treasure' bindings
such as were designed to be carried in procession and displayed
during major church services. Although both the manuscript (from
the Cistercian abbey of Himmerod, in the diocese of Trier) and the
cover date from the same period, scholars now doubt whether they
were originally made to be together.
