Pictorial binding: endeavor to classify

The article is devoted to the classification of bindings of the 1–19th centuries with a unique and untypical book binding decoration technique (encaustic, tempera and oil paintings). Analysis of design features, materials and techniques of art decoration made it possible to identify them as a separate type – pictorial bindings and divide them into four groups. The first group consists of Coptic bindings, decorated with icon-painting images in encaustic technique. The second group is made up of leather Western bindings of the 13–14th centuries, which have the decoration and technique of ornamentation close to iconography. The third group involves parchment bindings, ornamentation technique of which is closer to the miniature. The last group comprises bindings of East Slavic origin of the 15–19th centuries, decorated with icon-painting pictures made in the technique of tempera or oil painting. The proposed classification requires further basic research as several specific kinds of bindings have not yet been investigated