Timothy Rice

@timothyrice.org

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Κύριε Ἰησοῦ Χριστέ, Υἱὲ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἐλέησόν με τὸν ἁμαρτωλόν Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner. 📍 Portland, OR timothyrice.org ΙϹ ΧϹ ΝΙΚΑ

Essentially, the binder is creating a protective “guard” around the back end‐leaves so the final text leaves don’t get worn away by the hinge. Here’s the step‐by‐step in plainer language:

Folding new end‐leaves: The binder first took a single sheet of paper (with a different watermark) and folded it to make two large “folio” leaves. These leaves would serve as the final end‐papers at the back of the book.

Folding a separate leaf as a guard: To protect the backmost text pages from rubbing directly against the spine or hinge, the binder used an older (1603) manuscript leaf. He folded this longwise (lengthwise) and wrapped it around the spine edge of the new end‐leaves.

Positioning the fold: This folded manuscript leaf goes around the spine area, with its open edges out of the way toward the spine. Only a small portion of the “butt” (the thicker fold) was left to catch on the text block so it would stay in place.

Purpose: By wrapping the folded manuscript leaf around the newly added end‐leaves, the binder created a protective buffer—this extra layer prevents the backmost pages from chafing at the hinge when the book is opened and closed. It was a common practice of the period to insert such a guard leaf to prolong the life of the final pages.