Got you covered: Deciphering Bookbindings: Curator talk

Bindings do more than hold books together – they also hold clues to people, places and times, offer a rich mix of historical evidence, and tell diverse stories, just like the texts they protect and contain.

The exhibition Got you covered: Deciphering bookbindings explores this theme and teases out the stories behind some intriguing bindings in He Māra Mahara | Cultural Collections. This includes a volume rebacked in a 12th century manuscript fragment, a 1970s thesis with leather boards exquisitely carved by a future tohunga whakairo, and a midwifery textbook with a home-made carry case.