nipped paper

Ingredients

paper

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The paper was physically nipped or squeezed in the center of the spinefold of the outer bifolios (p. 140). This marking was used to align the central thread of the mistarah (ruling board), allowing the copyist to maintain a consistent page layout without calculating margins for manuscripts of varying sizes (p. 142).

Evidence

"Further examination of the paper shows that there appears to be a small fold in the centre of each gathering, perpendicular to the spine, as if the paper has been nipped tightly in that area – not completely folded altogether, but pressed briefly so as to demarcate the foldline."

Remarks

This nipping practice is observed in both sewn and unsewn manuscripts (p. 140). The procedure explains why margins (top, bottom, and fore-edge) are sometimes unbalanced compared to the inner margin, as the ruling lines were fixed to the central nipped point (p. 143).