Old book binding and cover

Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. A Book is a set or collection of written printed illustrated or blank sheets made of Paper, Parchment, or other material usually fastened together Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon printing upon or packaging It also usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block.

History

The craft of bookbinding originated in India, where religious sutra were copied onto palm leaves (cut into two, lengthwise) with a metal stylus. The leaf was then dried and rubbed with ink, which would form a stain in the wound. The finished leaves were given numbers, and two long twines were threaded through each end through wooden boards. When closed, the excess twine would be wrapped around the boards to protect the leaves of the book. Buddhist monks took the idea through modern Persia, Afghanistan, and Iran, to China in the first century BC.

Western writers at this time wrote longer texts as scrolls, and these were stored in shelving with small cubbyholes, similar to a modern winerack. A scroll is a roll of Papyrus, Parchment, or Paper which has been written drawn or painted upon for the purpose of transmitting information or using as The word volume, from the Latin word volvere ("to roll"), comes from these scrolls. Court records and notes were written on tree bark and leaves, while important documents were written on papyrus. Papyrus (/pəˈpaɪrəs/ (Rhymes -aɪrəs)is a thick paper-like material produced from the Pith of the papyrus plant Cyperus papyrus The modern English word book comes from the Proto-Germanic *bokiz, referring to the beechwood on which early written works were recorded^[1].

The book was not needed in ancient times, as many early Greek texts—scrolls—were thirty pages long, which fits into the hand. Roman works were often longer, running to hundreds of pages. The Greeks used to comically call their books tome, meaning "to cut". The Egyptian Book of the Dead was a massive 200 pages long but was never meant to be read by the living. ' The Book of the Dead' is the common name for the Ancient Egyptian Funerary text known as ' Spells of Coming' (or ' Going') ' Forth By Day' Torahs, editions of the Jewish holy book, were also held in special holders when read. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to

Scrolls can be rolled in one of two ways. The first method is to wrap the scroll around a single core, similar to a modern roll of paper towels. While simple to construct, a single core scroll has a major disadvantage: in order to read text at the end of the scroll, the entire scroll must be unwound. This is partially overcome in the second method, which is to wrap the scroll around two cores, as in a Torah. With a double scroll, the text can be accessed from both beginning and end, and the portions of the scroll not being read can remain wound. This still leaves the scroll a sequential-access medium: to reach a given page, one generally has to unroll and re-roll many other pages.

The first solution invented to overcome this problem was a set of simple wooden boards sewn together, around the 1st century A. The 1st century was the Century that lasted from 1 to 100 according the Julian calendar. D. Romans called this simple book a codex—the Latin for the trunk of a tree. A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally However, it was the early Coptic Christians of Egypt who made the first breakthrough. They discovered that by folding sheets of vellum or parchment in half and sewing them through the fold, they could produce a book that could be written on both sides. Vellum (from the Old French Vélin for "calfskin" is mammal skin prepared for writing or printing on single pages scrolls codices or books Parchment is a thin material made from Calfskin, Sheepskin or goatskin. Wooden boards held it together, and the whole book was slipped into a goatskin leather bag to be carried.

Codices were a significant improvement over papyrus or vellum scrolls in that they were easier to handle. But despite allowing writing on both sides of the leaves, they were still foliated—numbered on the leaves, like the Indian books. The idea spread quickly through the early churches, and we get the word bible from the town where the Byzantium monks established their first scriptorium, Byblos, in modern Lebanon. Scriptorium, literally "a place for writing" is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European Monasteries devoted to the copying of manuscripts by monastic Byblos ( Βύβλος) is the Greek name of the Phoenician city Gebal (earlier Gubla) The idea of numbering each side of the page—Latin pagina, "to fasten"—appeared when the text of the individual testaments of the bible were combined and text had to be searched through more quickly. This book format became the preferred way of preserving manuscript or printed material.

Early and medieval codices were bound with flat spines, and it was not until the 15th century that books began to have the rounded spines associated with hardcovers today^[2]. Because the vellum of early books would react to humidity by swelling, causing the book to take on a characteristic wedge shape, the wooden covers of medieval books were often secured with straps or clasps. These straps, along with metal bosses on the book's covers to keep it raised off of the surface that it rests on, are collectively known as furniture.

Thus, Western books from the 5th century onwards were bound between hard covers, with pages made from parchment folded and sewn onto strong cords or ligaments that were attached to wooden boards and covered with leather. Since early books were exclusively handwritten on handmade materials, sizes and styles varied considerably, and each book was a unique creation or a copy of it.

The Arabs revolutionised the book production and its binding. They were the first to produce paper books after they learnt paper industry from the Chinese in 8th century^[3]. Particular skills were developed for script writing (calligraphy), miniature and bookbinding. The people who worked in making books were called "Warraqin" or paper professionals. The Arabs made books lighter—sewn with silk and bound with leather covered paste boards, they had a flap that wrapped the book up when not in use. As paper was less reactive to humidity, the heavy boards were not needed. The production of books became a real industry and cities like Marrakech in Morocco, had a street named "Kutubiyyin" or book sellers which contained more than 100 bookshops in the12th century^[4]. In the words of Don Baker: "The world of Islam has produced some of the most beautiful books ever created. The need to write down the Revelations which the Prophet Muhammad, may peace be upon him, received, fostered the desire to beautify the object which conveyed these words and initiated this ancient craft. Nowhere else, except perhaps in China, has calligraphy been held in such high esteem. Splendid illumination was added with gold and vibrant colours, and the whole book contained and protected by beautiful bookbindings"^[5]

The binding of a Chinese bamboo book.

With the arrival (from the East) of rag paper manufacturing in Europe in the late Middle Ages and the use of the printing press beginning in the mid-15th century, bookbinding began to standardize somewhat, but page sizes still varied considerably. A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a medium (such as paper or cloth thereby transferring an image

With printing, the books became more accessible and were stored on their side on long shelves for the first time. Clasps were removed, and titles were added to the spine. The reduced cost of books facilitated cheap lightweight Bibles, made from tissue-thin oxford paper, with floppy covers, that resembled the early Arabic Korans, enabling missionaries to take portable books with them around the world, and modern wood glues enabled paperback covers to be added to simple glue bindings.

Forms of binding include the following:^[6]

• Ethiopian binding
• Coptic binding
• Long-stitch bookbinding
• Wooden board
• Limp vellum
• Calf-binding ("leather-bound")
• Paper case
• In-board cloth
• Cased cloth binding
• Secret Belgian binding
• Traditional Chinese bookbinding and Japanese stab binding

Some books have even been bound in human skin. The Ethiopian Bookbinding technique is a chain stitch sewing that looks similar to the multi section Coptic binding method Coptic binding refers to methods of Bookbinding developed by early Christians in Egypt the Copts, and used from as early as the 2nd century AD to Longstitch is a Bookbinding technique used for sewing together the sections of a book Limp vellum is a Bookbinding method used commonly in the 16th and 17th Centuries Calf-binding (also sometimes called half-calf, full-calf, half-bound or full-bound, depending on the amount or simply leather-bound The secret Belgian binding is a method of Bookbinding that uses an exposed sewing to bind a textblock to the cover boards and spine Traditional Chinese bookbinding refers to the method of bookbinding that the Chinese (as well as Koreans and Japanese have used in recent centuries before converting to the modern Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus The skin is the outer covering of living tissue of an animal (or plant This practice is called anthropodermic bibliopegy. Anthropodermic bibliopegy is the practice of binding books in Human Skin. Allegedly, grimoires are often bound this way. A grimoire (grɪˈmwɑr is a textbook of magic. Books of this genre typically giving instructions for invoking Angels or Demons performing

Modern commercial binding

There are various commercial techniques in use today. Commercially-produced books today tend to be of one of four categories:

Hardcover Binding

• A hardcover or hardbound book has rigid covers and is stitched in the spine. A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Looking from the top of the spine, the book can be seen to consist of a number of signatures bound together. When the book is opened in the middle of a signature, the binding threads are visible. The signatures in modern hardcover books are typically octavo (a single sheet folded three times), though they may also be folio, quarto, or 16mo. Octavo (usually abbreviated 8vo 8° 8o or Oct is a Book size resulting from the use of standard size sheets of paper folded three times to make eight leaves See the discussion below and book size. The size of a specific Book is measured from the head to tail of the spine and from edge to edge across the covers Unusually large and heavy books are sometimes bound with wire or cable.

The covers of modern hardback books are of thick cardboard. Until the mid- 20th century, those of mass-produced books were covered in cloth, but from that period onwards, most publishers adopted clothette, a kind of textured paper which vaguely resembles cloth but is easily differentiated on close inspection. Most cloth-bound books are now half-and-half covers with cloth covering only the spine. In that case, the cover has a paper overlap.

Some signature-bound books that appeared in the mid-20th century appear in reprinted editions but only in glued-together editions, and it is often difficult to find a copy of such books that is stitched together. They are sought for aesthetic and practical reasons.

A variation of the hardcover which is more durable is the calf-binding, half-calf or full-calf (also called full-bound or simply leather bound), where the cover is either half or fully clad in leather, usually from a calf. Calf-binding (also sometimes called half-calf, full-calf, half-bound or full-bound, depending on the amount or simply leather-bound Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process A calf (kɑːf plural calves, /kɑːvz/ is the young of various species of Mammal.

• Library binding refers to the hardcover binding of serials and paperback books intended for the rigors of library use. Library binding is the term used to describe the method of binding serials, and re-binding Paperback or hardcover books for use within libraries A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth The term " serial " refers to the intrinsic property of a series &mdash namely its order. Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. A library is a collection of information sources resources and services and the structure in which it is housed it is organized for use and maintained by a public body an institution Though many publishers have started to provide "library binding" editions, many libraries elect to purchase paperbacks and have them rebound as hardcover books, resulting in longer life for the material.

There are a number of methods used to bind hardcover books:

1. Oversewing, where the signatures of the book start off as loose pages which then get clamped together. Oversewn bindings are a type of Bookbinding produced by sewing together loose leaves of Paper to form a text block Small vertical holes are punched through the far left-hand edge of each signature, and then the signatures are sewn together with lock-stitches to form the text block. Oversewing is a very strong method of binding and can be done on books up to five inches thick. However, in punching holes and stitching the signatures together, the margins of oversewn books are reduced. Also, the pages will not lie flat when they are opened.
2. Sewing through the fold, where the signatures of the book are folded and stitched through the fold. Then the signatures are sewn and/or glued together at the spine to form a text block. Glue or adhesive is a compound that adheres or bonds two items together Sewn through the fold books have wide margins and can open completely flat. However, the text block of a sewn through the fold book is not very secure, which can cause some signatures to come loose over time. Many varieties of sewing stitches exist, from basic links to complex decorative stitches. While Western books are generally sewn through holes punched along the fold, some Asian bindings, such as the Retchoso or Butterfly Stitch of Japan, use small slits instead of punched holes.
3. Double-fan adhesive binding starts off with two signatures of loose pages, which are run over a roller ("fanning" the pages) to apply a thin layer of glue to each page edge. Then the two signatures are perfectly aligned to form a text block, and glue edges of the text block are attached to a piece of cloth lining to form the spine. Double-fan adhesive bound books can open completely flat and have a wide margin. However, certain types of paper do not hold adhesive well, and with wear and tear, the pages can come loose. ^[7]

Modern paperback spines

Punch and Bind

• Wire Binding is also known as Twin Loop or Double Loop binding and involves the use of a "C" shaped wire spine that is squeezed into a round shape using a wire closing device. Wire Binding is one of the most popular commercial Book binding methods used in North America and is known by a number of different names including Twin loop Wire bound books are made of individual sheets, each punched with a line of round or square holes on the binding edge. This type of binding uses either a 3:1 pitch hole pattern with three holes per inch or a 2:1 pitch hole pattern with two holes per inch. The three to one hole pattern is used for smaller books that are up to 9/16" in diameter while the 3:1 pattern is normally used for larger books as the holes are slightly bigger to accommodate slightly thicker, stronger wire. Once punched, the back cover is then placed onto the front cover ready for the wire binding elements (double loop wire) to be inserted. The wire is then placed through the holes. The next step involves the binder to hold the book by its pages and insert to wire into a "closer" which is basically a vice the crimps the wire closed and into its round shape. The back page can then be turned back to its correct position thus hiding the spine of the book.
• Comb Binding uses a 9/16" pitch rectangular hole pattern punched near the bound edge. Binding process To bind a document the user first punches holes in the paper with a specialized Hole punch. A curled plastic "comb" is fed through the slits to hold the sheets together. Comb binding allows a book to be disassembled and reassembled by hand without damage.
• VeloBind is used to permanently rivet pages together using a plastic strip on the front and back of the document. VeloBind is a type of book binding often offered at copy and print shops Sheets for the document are punched with a line of holes near the bound edge. A series of pins attached to a plastic strip called a Comb feeds through the holes to the other side and then goes through another plastic strip called the receiving strip. The excess portion of the pins is cut off and the plastic heat-sealed to create a relatively flat bind method. VeloBind provides a more permanent bind than comb-binding, but is primarily used for business and legal presentations and small publications.
• Spiral binding or coil binding is commonly used for atlases and other publications where it is necessary or desirable to be able to open the publication back on itself without breaking the spine. Coil binding is an extremely popular Book binding style for creating documents reports presentations and proposals Coil binding is an extremely popular Book binding style for creating documents reports presentations and proposals There are several types but basically it is made by punching holes along the entire length of the spine of the page and winding a wire helix (like a spring) through the holes to provide a fully flexible hinge at the spine. A helix (pl helixes or helices) from the Greek word έλιξ, is a special kind of Space curve, i Spiral coil binding uses a number of different hole patterns for binding documents. The most common hole pattern used with this style is 4:1 pitch (4 holes per inch). However, spiral coil spines are also avaialble for use with 3:1 pitch, 5:1 pitch and 0. 400 hole patterns ^[8].
• GBC Proclick is a relatively new binding style that was originally designed for use with a 3:1 pitch wire binding hole pattern. Proclick is a relatively new binding style developed by the General Binding Corporation (a division of ACCO Brands) This type of binding uses an element that snaps shut and can be easily opened for editing purposes. The editing abilities of this style make it popular with direct sales organizations and mobile offices. Proclick is manufactured exclusively by the General Binding Corporation. Proclick is a relatively new binding style developed by the General Binding Corporation (a division of ACCO Brands) General Binding Corporation ( NASDAQ: GBND is an office supplies manufacturer with many highly recognized global brands for binding lamination and other presentation products
• ZipBind is also manufactured by the General Binding Corporation and offers easy editing. General Binding Corporation ( NASDAQ: GBND is an office supplies manufacturer with many highly recognized global brands for binding lamination and other presentation products However, the binding spines for this style are designed to work with the 9/16" plastic comb binding hole pattern. Like Proclick, Zipbind spines can easily be opened and closed without the need for a binding machine. Proclick is a relatively new binding style developed by the General Binding Corporation (a division of ACCO Brands) Thus the addition and deletion of pages is a simple process provided that the pages have already been punched.

Thermally Activated Binding

• Perfect binding similar to paperback books is often used; National Geographic is perhaps the best known of this type. Overview The NGS's historical mission is "to increase and diffuse geographic knowledge while promoting the conservation of the world's cultural historical and natural paperback or soft cover books are also normally bound using perfect binding. Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. They usually consist of various sections with a cover usually made with heavier paper, glued together at the spine with a strong flexible glue; The sections are rough-cut in the back as to make them absorb the hot glue. The other three sides are then face trimmed. This is what allows the magazine or paperback book to be opened. Mass market paperbacks (pulp paperbacks) are small (16mo size), cheaply made and often fall apart after much handling or several years. Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. There have been many standard sizes of Paper at different times and in different countries but today there are two widespread systems in use the international standard (A4 Trade paperbacks are more sturdily made, usually larger, and more expensive. Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding.
• Thermal Binding uses a one piece cover with glue down the spine to quickly and easily bind documents without the need for punching. Individuals usually purchase "thermal covers" or "therm-a-bind covers" which are usually made to fit a standard letter size sheet of paper and come with a glue channel down the spine. The paper is placed in the cover, heated in a machine (basically a griddle), and when the glue cools, it adheres the paper to the spine. Thermal glue strips can also be purchased separately for individuals that wish to use customized/original covers. However creating documents using thermal binding glue strips can be a tedious process and requires a scoring device and a large format printer.
• A cardboard article looks like a hardbound book at first sight, but it is really a paperback with hard covers. It is not as durable as a real hardbound; often the binding will fall apart after a little use. Many books that are sold as hardcover are actually of this type. Notably, the Modern Library series is of this class. The Modern Library, a current division of Random House Publishers was founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright. Again, this type of document is usually bound with thermal adhesive glue using a perfect binding machine.
• Tape Binding is a term that is generally used to refer to a system that wraps and glues a piece of tape around the base of the document. A tape binding machine such as the Planax Copybinder (called Standard Accubind system in the USA) will usually be used to complete the binding process and to activate the thermal adhesive on the glue strip. However, some users also refer to Tape Binding as the process of adding a colored tape to the edge of a mechanically fastened (stapled or stitched) document.
• Unibind is a variety of thermal binding that uses a special steel channel with glue inside of it to hold the pages in place. Unibind can be used to bind soft covered documents with a look that is similar to perfect binding. It can also be used for binding hardcover books and photo books. Like Thermal Binding, unibind usually requires you to purchase a one piece coverset to bind your documents. However, Unibind also offers SteelBack spines that allow you to use your own covers in the binding process. It is however a comparatively expensive method of binding and it does not produce a true 'working document' (it will not lay flay on the desk).

Stitched or Sewn Binding

• A sewn book is constructed in the same way as a hardbound book, except that it lacks the hard covers. The binding is as durable as that of a hardbound book.
• Stapling through the center fold, also called saddle-stitching, joins a set of nested folios into a single magazine issue; most American comic books are well-known examples of this type. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a comic paper or comic magazine) is a Magazine or Book of narrative
• Magazines are considered more ephemeral than books, and less durable means of binding them are usual. Magazines, periodicals or serials are Publications generally published on a regular schedule containing a variety of articles, generally In general, the cover papers of magazines will be the same as the inner pages (self-cover)^[9] or only slightly heavier (soft cover). Most magazines are stapled or saddles stiched however some are bound with perfect binding and use thermally activated adhesive.

Modern hand binding

Hardbound book spine stitching.

Traditionally sewn book opened flat.

Halfbound book with leather and marble paper.

Modern bookbinding by hand can be seen as two closely allied fields: the creation of new bindings, and the repair of existing bindings. Bookbinders are often active in both fields. Bookbinders can learn the craft through apprenticeship; by attending specialized trade schools such as the Centro del bel Libro, the Camberwell College of Arts, and the North Bennet Street School; by taking classes in the course of university studies, or by a combination of those methods. Apprenticeship is a system of Training a new generation of practitioners of a skill Camberwell College of Arts (formerly known as Camberwell School of Art and Crafts) is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London and is one of Some European countries offer a Master Bookbinder certification, though no such certification exists in the United States. MFA programs that specialize in the 'Book Arts,' (hand paper-making, printmaking and bookbinding) are available through colleges and universities such as, Columbia College Chicago, the University of Alabama and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Hand bookbinders create new bindings that run the gamut from historical book structures made with traditional materials to modern structures made with 21st century materials, and from basic cloth-case bindings to valuable full-leather fine bindings. Repairs to existing books also encompass a broad range of techniques, from minimally invasive conservation of a historic book to the full restoration and rebinding of a text.

Though almost any existing book can be repaired to some extent, only books that were originally sewn can be rebound by resewing. Repairs or restorations are often done to emulate the style of the original binding. For new works, some publishers print unbound manuscripts which a binder can collate and bind, but often an existing commercially-bound book is pulled, or taken apart, in order to be given a new binding. Once the textblock of the book has been pulled, it can be rebound in almost any structure; a modern suspense novel, for instance, could be rebound to look like a 16^th century manuscript. Bookbinders may bind several copies of the same text, giving each copy a unique appearance.

Hand bookbinders use a variety of specialized hand tools, the most emblematic of which is the bonefolder, a flat, tapered, polished piece of bone used to crease paper and apply pressure^[10]. A bone folder or bonefolder is a dull edged device used to crease material in crafts such as Bookbinding, card making and any other craft where a sharp crease Additional tools common to hand bookbinding include a variety of knives and hammers, as well as brass tools used during finishing. In Bookbinding, finishing refers to the process of decorating the outside of a book including the lettering of the spine and covers any additional tooling, and any

When creating new work, modern hand binders often work on commission, creating bindings for specific books or collections. Books can be bound in many different materials. Some of the more common materials for covers are leather, decorative paper, and cloth (see also: buckram). Leather is a material created through the Tanning of hides and Skins of Animals primarily Cattlehide The Tanning process Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon printing upon or packaging A textile is a flexible material comprised of a network of natural or artificial Fibres often referred to as thread or Yarn. Buckram is a stiff Cloth, made of Cotton, and still occasionally Linen, which is used to cover and protect Books Buckram can also be used to Those bindings that are made with exceptionally high craftsmanship, and that are made of particularly high-quality materials (especially full leather bindings), are known as fine or extra bindings.

Conservation and restoration

Conservation and restoration are practices intended to repair damage to an existing book. While they share methods, their goals vary. The goal of conservation is to slow the book's decay and restore it to a usable state while altering its physical properties as little as possible; the goal of restoration, however, is to return the book to a previous state as envisioned by the restorer, often imagined as the original state of the book.

Rebacking saving original spine, showing one volume finished and one untouched

Books requiring conservation treatment run the gamut from the very earliest of texts to modern bindings that have undergone heavy usage. For each book, the conservator must choose a course of treatment that takes into account the book's value, whether it comes from the binding, the text, the provenance, or some combination of the three. Provenance, from the French provenir, "to come from" means the Origin, or the source, of something or the history of the ownership or location Many professional book and paper conservators in the United States are members of the American Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works (AIC), whose guidelines set forth in the AIC's Code of Ethics are generally considered to outline an appropriate approach to the treatment of rare or valuable materials.

In restoration hand binding, the pages and book covers are often hundreds of years old and the handling of these pages has to be undertaken with great care, and a delicate hand. The binding archival process can extend a book’s life for many decades, and is necessary in order to preserve books that sometimes are limited to a small handful of remaining copies worldwide.

The first step in saving and preserving a book is found in its deconstruction. The text need to be separated from the covers and only if necessary the stitching removed. This is done as delicately as possible, all restoration is done at this point, be it the removal of foxing, ink stains, page tears etc. Foxing is a term describing the age-related spots and browning seen on vintage paper Documents such as Books Postage stamps Certificates Various techniques are employed to repair the various types of page damage that might have occurred during the life of the book.

Geneva Bible, 1603, rebound in the style of Elizabeth I's Book binder.

Master Bookbinders are qualified to undertake restoration and traditional hand binding, and use great care to make sure this process does not further damage the pages, then they are added to the various groups of page signatures, which when collated are beaten flat and pressed.

The preparation of the "foundations" of the book could mean the difference between a beautiful work of art and a useless stack of paper and leather.

The sections are then hand sewn in the style of its period into book form.

The next step is the creation of the book cover; vegetable tanned leather, which is dyed using natural dyes, and hand-marbled papers can be used. Finally the cover is hand-tooled in gold leaf. The design of the book cover involves the hand-tooling, where an extremely thin layer of gold is applied to the cover. Such designs can be lettering, symbols, or floral designs, depending on the nature of any particular project.

Terms and techniques

• A leaf or folio is a single complete page, front and back, in a finished book.
  • The recto side of a leaf faces left when the leaf is held straight up from the spine (that is, an odd-numbered page).
  • The verso side of a leaf faces right when the leaf is held straight up from the spine (or an even-numbered page).
• A bifolio is a single sheet folded in half to make two leaves. Each half of the bifolio is a folio, though the terms are often used interchangeably.
• A section, sometimes called a gathering, is a group of bifolios nested together as a single unit^[11]. In a completed book, each section is sewn through its fold.
• A codex is a series of one or more sections sewn through their folds, and linked together by the sewing thread. A codex ( Latin for block of wood, Book; plural codices) is a book in the format used for modern books with separate pages normally
• A signature is a section that contains text. Though the term signature technically refers to the signature mark, traditionally a letter or number printed on the first leaf of a section in order to facilitate collation, the distinction is rarely made today^[12]. A signature mark is a letter number or combination of either or both which is printed at the bottom of the first page of a leaf
• Folio, quarto, and so on may also refer to the size of the finished book, based on the size of sheet that an early paper maker could conveniently turn out with a manual press. Paper sizes could vary considerably, and the finished size was also affected by how the pages were trimmed, so the sizes given are rough values only.
  • A folio volume is typically 15" (38 cm) or more in height, the largest sort of regular book.
  • A quarto volume is typically about 9" (23 cm) by 12" (30 cm), roughly the size of most modern magazines. A sheet folded in quarto (also 4to or 4º) is folded in half twice at right angles to make four leaves. Also called: 4-page signature.
  • An octavo volume is typically about 5 to 6" (13-15 cm) by 8-to-9" (20-23 cm), the size of most modern digest magazines or trade paperbacks. Octavo (usually abbreviated 8vo 8° 8o or Oct is a Book size resulting from the use of standard size sheets of paper folded three times to make eight leaves A sheet folded in octavo (also 8vo or 8º) is folded in half 3 times to make 8 leaves. Also called: 8-page signature.
  • A sextodecimo volume is about 4 1/2" (11. 5 cm) by 6 3/4" (17 cm), the size of most mass market paperbacks. A sheet folded in sextodecimo (also 16mo or 16º) is folded in half 4 times to make 16 leaves. Also called: 16-page signature.
  • Duodecimo or 12mo, 24mo, 32mo, and even 64mo are other possible sizes. Modern paper mills can produce very large sheets, so a modern printer will often print 64 or 128 pages on a single sheet.
• A quire is a set of leaves which are stitched together. This is most often a single signature, but may be several nested signatures. The quires for a single book are arranged in order and then stitched together as a set.
• Trimming allows the leaves of the bound book to be turned. A sheet folded in quarto will have folds at the spine and also across the top, so the top folds must be trimmed away before the leaves can be turned. A signature folded in octavo or greater may also require that the other two sides be trimmed. Deckle Edge, or Uncut books are untrimmed or incompletely trimmed, and may be of special interest to book collectors. Book collecting is the Collecting of Books including seeking locating acquiring organizing cataloging displaying storing and maintaining whatever books are

Spine orientation and titling conventions

This bamboo book does not have a spine; rather, the pages fold back upon each other continually, in a zig-zag pattern. A zigzag is a Pattern made up of small corners at variable angles though constant within the zigzag tracing a path between two Parallel lines; it can be described

Without a spine, the entire book can unfold into a flat sheet.

In left-to-right read languages (like English), books are bound on the left side of the cover; looking from on top, the pages increase counter-clockwise. In right-to-left languages, books are bound on the right. In both cases, this is so the end of a page coincides with where you flip.

(Some English-language books are bound on the right side of the cover. By far the most common examples are English-language translations of Japanese comic books. ˈmɑŋgə is the Japanese word for Comics (sometimes called komikku コミック and print Cartoons In their modern form manga date from shortly Since the art is laid out to be read right-to-left, this allows the art to be published "unflipped". )

In Japanese, literary books are written top-to-bottom, right-to-left, and thus are bound on the right, while text books are written left-to-right, top-to-bottom, and thus are bound on the left.

Early books did not have titles on their spines; rather, they were shelved flat with their spines inward, and titles written with ink along their fore edges. Modern books, however, have their titles on their spines. In languages with Chinese-influenced writing systems, this is naturally written top-to-bottom (as the characters don't change orientation, and the language is generally written top-to-bottom), but in left-to-right (and right-to-left) languages, the spine is usually too narrow for the title to fit in its natural orientation, and conventions differ. In the United States and the United Kingdom, titles are usually written top-to-bottom, and this practice is reflected in an industry standard^[13]; when placed on a table with the front cover upwards, the title is correctly oriented left-to-right on the spine. In continental Europe, the general convention is to print titles bottom-to-top on the spine.

See also

• Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America
• Artist's book
• Bindery
• Book design
• Papermaking
• Picture cover
• Secret Belgian binding

References

External links

• Centre for the History of the Book
• How to make a simple hardcover book
• Simple Japanese Bookbinding Technique
• Douglas W. Jones on Bookbinding
• Bookbinding Links List of bookbinders
• Art Lebedev: § 122. Book spines
• Simple instructions: from printing all the way to making a dust jacket
• Online exhibit of publishers' bookbinding, 1830-1910 from the University of Rochester
• Images of step by step book restoration
• Dave the Designer's Tutorial Bookbinding tutorial, step by step
• Tutorial For Creating Low Cost Glue Bound Books
• Sewn styles

Books online:

• Conservation Book Repair, a book about restoring books
• Bookbinding and the Conservation of books, A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, 1982 by Matt T. Roberts and Don Etherington
• English Embroidered Bookbindings, by Cyril James Humphries Davenport, from Project Gutenberg
• The Pierre Ouvrard Collection and Archive
• About Bookbinding, 8 public-domain books online
• Learn Bookbinding, Several free books on Bookbinding, Gilding, Box construction. Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to Digitize, archive and distribute Cultural works
• Leather bookbindings: how to preserve them hosted by the UNT Government Documents Department
• Paper and cardboard construction, 1916 text for teachers on bookbinding and other papercrafts (envelope and box construction) by George Frederick Buxton and Fred Llewellyn Curran. Year 1916 ( MCMXVI) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year Link at The Internet Archive has text, PDF, and other formats. The Internet Archive ( IA) is a Nonprofit organization dedicated to maintaining an on-line Library and archive of Web and

Institutions that offer MFA programs in bookbinding:

• University of the Arts
• Columbia College Chicago, Center for Book and Paper Arts
• The University of Alabama

Online images of bookbindings:

• British Library Database of Bookbindings
• Publishers Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books
• Books on the ocean illustrating cloth bookbinding development and design

Other:

• IOBA glossary of book terms
• A discussion of title on spine conventions.
• ANSI/NISO/LBI Z39.78-2000 Standards for library binding
• Bookbinding Forum