Italian bindings in metal are rare, and it is only in the case of very small books that it was ever used. The manner of this is usually fine filigree work over a gilt groundwork. There is one example in the Victoria and Albert Museum, which is, however, more likely to be quite an exceptional production than one in any way representing a national type. It is an exquisitely enamelled golden book cover, having on one side the Garden of Eden and on the other the Fountain of Youth; it contains a missal, and is said to have been made for Queen Henrietta Maria.
In France a few silver bindings of the sixteenth century with enamels have been made, but they are very rare, and the enamels of the basse taille style, usually badly chipped.
I believe some small metal bindings with rough enamels upon them have been made in comparatively modern times in Russia. These all have a strong Byzantine feeling and are clear survivals of the same style that was in vogue in Russia in mediæval times, and was used not only for bindings but also for ikons and triptychs. The work is coarse and unsatisfactory.
[Illustration: FIG. 83.--Dutch binding in tortoiseshell and silver.]
Tortoiseshell mounted in metal has been largely used for bindings in Holland, Germany, and Spain. The backs are hinged to the sides with long snuff-box hinges, and the shell itself is sometimes beautifully inlaid with silver and mother-of-pearl. Some of these covers are very small, particularly the Dutch ones, and designs are sometimes impressed upon them.
Mother-of-pearl has now and then been utilised for binding very small books. The backs and hinges are usually of silver.
[Illustration: FIG. 84.--German chained book, fifteenth century.]
The curious custom of fastening books to their shelves by means of chains was common enough in Europe in mediæval times and became almost universal in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in churches. It was of course done as a safeguard against thieves, and as far as I know only in the case of printed books. Although printed books soon became plentiful, yet no doubt in the case of Bibles and Prayer Books it is likely enough that a considerable leakage took place. Such small books were commonly chained to the backs of the pews in private chapels throughout England, and undoubtedly the custom, though inconvenient in use, was effective enough for its purpose.