Books have functioned as repositories of knowledge and collective memory for centuries. Richard Ovenden has written on the destruction of libraries and archives, an occurrence which, sadly, has occurred all too often. In times of war or civil unrest, attempts are frequently made to destroy those records which preserve history and inform the present. Our revulsion at such acts comes, in part, from the reverence in which books are held by so many. They are valued not as ephemeral objects but rather as something to preserve and cherish, representing far more than simply the words on their pages. Societies, groups and individuals have, for centuries, preserved on bound folios their most authoritative and sacred texts.

There is a long tradition of situating books at the centre of ceremonial activities. Some images within religious medieval manuscripts show signs of use indicative of them having been touched or even kissed, an action that would have imitated the kissing of a missal by a priest during Mass. Since 1945, the St Augustine Gospels, a sixth-century manuscript now in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, has been taken to Canterbury for the swearing of the oath in the enthronement of new archbishops. The practice apparently revives an earlier tradition, a factor which is of great significance to those involved in the modern-day ceremonies.

The art contained within bound manuscripts often shows images of books. The depiction of John Banister delivering his anatomy lecture whilst a volume sits open on a lectern demonstrates the notion of an authoritative text. In other instances, books being presented to a patron or situated within a depiction of worship can be found, highlighting the significance of both their message and medium. What these images have in common is a focus on the book as an object.

From medieval Libri Vitae to twentieth-century war memorials, society has become accustomed to using a single item or fixed point to represent the individuals within a group or community. The guild book of the Barbers and Surgeons of York was not created to preserve the memory of the deceased, but it did function as a symbolic point of focus for the Guild.