This phrase was used in the twelfth century by Ordericus Vitalis, Hist. Eccles. Lib. III. p. 77, Ed. Le Prevost.
Mediaeval saddlery, with its cut, gilt and stamped leather (cuir bouillé), rich and elaborate in design, was a decorative art of no mean character; and in technique was akin to that of the bookbinder, which in most places was included in the same Guild.
See Le Beffroi, Bruges, Vol. IV. 1873.
In poetic beauty, however, they cannot be compared to the glory of the French Apocalypses such as that in the library of Trinity College, Cambridge.
Gérard David is mentioned above as one of the illuminators of the famous Grimani Breviary; see page [165].