Statuta conuiuii sancti Johannis baptiste in Ygheløse (Laws of the Guild of St. John in Uggeløse). Uggeløse, Denmark 14th century.
NkS 298^d 8º

Scroll cover	When reading the parchment sheet is passed through this slit

The cover seen from the left

Scroll from late mediaeval Denmark. The wooden binding is covered with leather. It is 19 cm long and 3.4 cm in diameter. A sheet of parchment (52 x 14.5 cm) is wound on a 21 cm long wooden rod placed in a wooden cylinder with a ½ cm wide slit through which the sheet is pulled. The cylinder is covered with leather that has been fastened in each end with a string (now only fastened in one end).
The scroll belonged to Ole Worm (1588-1654), who was a doctor, professor of Latin, Greek, physics, and medicine, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Copenhagen several times, and founder of Danish runology. In 1621 he started a systematic collection of objects that came to be the Museum Wormianum. After Worm’s death King Frederik III bought the collection and incorporated it into the Royal Art Chamber.

See also the web exhibition of the Rare Book Collections Danish bookbindings in the Royal Library (only in Danish).

© Det Kongelige Bibliotek 2003