Page - 13 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/01

Materiality of Religious Books | 13www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/1, 13–32 Erich Renhart Materiality of Religious Books A Brief Sketch of Sometimes Disregarded Aspects of Book Culture Abstract Engagement with Christian manuscripts – Eastern and Western – and with ancient and rare printed books makes evident a growing interest in material and codicological as- pects of our book heritage. In other words, it evinces an emerging curiosity about the non-textual realities of books – at least of ancient books. This shift is particularly true for manuscript studies. The question of materiality remains unavoidable, however, even today, when we decide to edit a book in hard copy along with electronic or digital versions. As has always been the case, there is a direct correlation between the quality of materials used, the production/confection techniques and the external appearance of a book. Normally, one would not expect to find the finest inks, paper or parchment in the hands of less-skilled scribes or illuminators. This article sets alongside imme- diate material aspects corresponding, and usually expensive, issues like sewing and binding techniques, layout (mise-en-page) and decoration. They too condition our as- sessment – even unconsciously – when we meet religious books. Keywords Materiality, Palimpsest, Parchment, Book Destruction Biography Erich Renhart is professor of liturgics at the University of Graz. In 2005, he founded VESTIGIA – The Manuscript Research Centre of Graz University (https://vestigia.uni- graz.at), which is dedicated to research into and the restoration of hidden, lost and re-used manuscripts. As director of this institution and director of the Special Collec- tions Department at the University Library Graz, Renhart conducts research within Manuscript Studies, on text editions (Latin, Greek, Armenian, Syriac) and for Digital Humanities. DOI: 10.25364/05.7:2021.1.2