During the first part of the medieval Mass, the liturgy of the Word, a ritual recital of the liturgical book took place. In analogy to the sacramental presence of the divine in the eucharist, god was also thought to become present during the reading of Holy Scripture. The revetment of liturgical books with costly decorated covers was a device to visualize the presence of god in the book to the faithful. Sources regarding the use of liturgical codices during the early Middle Ages imply that it was first of all the exterior of the book which represented the word of god for the participants of liturgical rite: for the most time the codex remained a closed "body" of the book. When the Gospels were opened during scripture reading, their displayed covers became the visible front of the sacred text for the faithful. Within the frame of this main topic four, so far rather ignored items shall be taken in consideration: the preferences for certain materials (gold and silver, gems, ivory, silk), the selection of particular iconographic subjects (crucifixion, ascension, Maiestas Domini) and their forms of representation, the creation of visible links between the front and the back side of the codex as related to different contexts of use of the books, and last but not least the self-referenciality of the medium implied by the omnipresent subjects of the holy author and the holy book.
