Hello,
I am new to the forum and very excited to have found it. My work mostly deals with historical bookbinding (I am currently researching Ethiopian bookbinding traditions), which is the basis of my question.
In a catalog of Ethiopian manuscripts from 1859 there appears the line: “Par économie, les planches sont quelquefois en mas ou peau de vache épaissie, plutôt que tannée, par un long séjour dans le lait caillé.” (Translated as: “For economy’s sake, the boards are sometimes of mas or cowhide thickened, rather than tanned, by long immersion in sour milk”).
The troublesome word here is “mas.” It appears throughout the catalog in entries for manuscripts which have a traditional book satchel called a mahdar, made almost exclusively out of a very stiff and stout rawhide-like leather (“mahdar de mas”). I assume it to be mean just that, but I want something to back it up.
From elsewhere in the text it is clear that the author knows what a mahdar is, as his text provides the first known description of their construction. It is not clear what “mas” means, and it might be assumed as a relatively common term (at least at the time) since he doesn't provide a description of the material.
If anybody has any clues as the true meaning of the work "mas" I would be very happy to hear from you. -- Also, if you have any insight into the practice of soaking hide in milk, please speak up.
Thanks!
Bill
