Flesh side

The side of a piece of parchment that originally faced inwards on the animal.

The side of a piece of parchment that originally faced inwards on the animal, and had the flesh scraped off in the preparation of the parchment. The flesh side of a piece of parchment is usually somewhat smoother and lighter than the hair side. In most medieval manuscript traditions, it was the usual practice to assemble quires so that two hair sides faced each other and two flesh sides faced each other.

  • Arabic:
    جانب اللحم
  • French:
    Chair (côté chair); Dos
  • German:
    Fleischseite
  • Italian:
    Lato della carne; Lato carne
  • Spanish:
    Cara de carne;  Pars munda

Michelle Brown, Understanding Illuminated Manuscripts (Malibu, CA: J. Paul Getty Museum in association with the British Library, c1994).