The bindings of the 17th century expense books of Saint Mary of Jesus School in Seville

Abstract

Daily life in an institution like the one created in the 16th century by Maese Rodrigo de Santaella in Seville generated a lot of documentation of diverse origins. The blood cleansing files to request admission, the books of ordinary and extraordinary expenses to keep track of accounting, correspondence, lawsuits... Some were generated directly within bound books previously acquired outside the school. This is the case of ordinary and

extraordinary expense books. The rest are born as singles documents and can be preserved as such or in bound miscellanies, as happens with the blood cleansing files of students and servants.

The presentation at hand focuses on the portfolio bindings that covered the blank books purchased to contain the institution's accounting notes. These are original bindings in flexible parchment that offer interesting structural and content data.