A Sixfold Dos-à-Dos Binding from the Sixteenth Century

An elaborately decorated binding preserved in the Rogge Library in Strängnäs, Sweden, probably the most complicated binding I have ever heard of, opens in six different directions, each revealing a different book. The five books then not in use are kept closed by a system of clasps. This sixteenth century binding preserves six printed devotional texts printed in Germany from the 1550s to 1570s, including Martin Luther's Der kleine Catechismus.

Located in a 15th century building in the city of Strängnäs, the Rogge library was named after Konrad Rogge, who served as bishop in the city between 1479 and 1501.