The first book bindings fit for a Roman consul
ROUNDING off a sale of Western Manuscripts and Miniatures at Sotheby’s on June 22 was what, at first glance, must have seemed an unusual inclusion in a manuscript sale – a 13 1/2in (35cm) high carved ivory plaque featuring a figure of a Roman Consul.
But these pieces, known as consular diptychs, do have a bibliographic signficance. The diptychs came…