The result of all this is, that collectors of such bindings have been freely victimised. It is not really difficult to copy or to imitate a Byzantine binding--it is not nearly so difficult as to counterfeit a fine Le Gascon or a fine Roger Payne. It does not so much concern the binder as the metal worker, and in metal a little skill goes a long way, and so it does in the cloisonne enamel work which alone is found in these bindings. The present market price of a very fine Byzantine binding--a known one--will run into five figures, so it is little to be wondered at that it pays the clever _faussaires_ of the Continent to direct their attention to covers of this kind. They need not even take the trouble to provide manuscripts for the inside; loose covers will sell with equal readiness. Ivory carving played an important part on early bindings. Apart from diptychs, the earliest known decorative binding consists of plaques of ivory carved with Biblical scenes, and having in the centre a lamb within a wreath of cloisonne work, with inlays of coloured glass. It is now kept in the cathedral treasury at Milan, and is without its original inside; it is attributed to the fifth century. Early Irish manuscripts were usually bound in quite simple limp leather covers, but these were kept in book boxes or “Cumdachs,” all of which still existing are of the greatest interest. [Illustration: FIG. 49.--The upper cover of the Cumdach of the Stowe Missal.] One of the finest is that of the Stowe Missal, dating from about the eleventh century. It belonged originally to the monastery of Lorrha in Tipperary, whence it was taken to the Irish monastery of Ratisbon. In 1784 it was found by Mr. John Grace in Austria, and afterwards belonged to the Stowe Library, and Lord Ashburnham, from whom it was purchased by the nation in 1883 with the rest of his library, and then deposited in the museum of the Royal Irish Academy. The lid is ornamented with a large cross set with pearls and metal bosses, having in the centre a large oval crystal over a pink ground, and enclosed with recent enamels, no doubt replacing old ones. At each end of the cross is a large jewel. The spaces between the arms of the cross contain silver gilt plates engraved with figures of Saints, and on the silver edge plates is an inscription in Irish inviting the reader to “Pray for Dunchad descendant of Taccan of the family of Cluan who made this.” This may therefore be called the earliest signed binding in the world, if a cumdach can be considered a binding. No doubt much of the work now on this lid, as well as some of the jewels and their settings, have been added since the original work was made. The base of the box has a similar ornamentation upon it, but the jewels and enamels are all gone, the spaces between the arms of the cross being filled with silver plates cut into an open pattern set over bronze gilt.