Bookbinding

History of Book Binding

The ancient art of bookbinding can be traced way back to before the process to make paper was discovered, which occurred in about 100 AD. It is thought that words were first written on thick leaves from palm trees, by engraving into the leaves with sharp points, then dye was rubbed over the entire leaf. The engravings would stand out while the smooth leaf would be wiped almost clean. Many leaves could then be joined with twine threaded through the leaves, then wrapped around a pair of wooden 'covers', producing what we now call a 'book'.

Once paper itself was being produced in China the need for proper protection of pages became apparent. At first, paper was produced in large sheets that would be rolled into a tube (or 'scroll') and placed inside a small square housing inside what was effectively a document cabinet. This was also the case in most Western countries as the process became more widespread. Very early documents that were of any importance would continue to be produced on leaves, called papyrus.

Eventually as Arab nations began to produce lighter and more robust paper material, the original heavy wood board protected books from around the 8th Century AD became much lighter and were protected by a leather flap that would be wrapped around the book. Continued developments in paper manufacturing meant that paper was made far more resistant to attack by humidity. These developments preceded an explosion in book making industries throughout the world.

Modern Bookbinding

There are basically two types of book in normal circulation, Hardbound and Softbound. The topic of bookbinding could occupy an entire website so this small section will just touch the surface of what is a fascinating hobby and what could become, if desired, a full time occupation.

Hardbound Books (Case Binding)

The following photographs will point out some of the features of a quality hardbound book. As always, it is always the small details that make any job stand out, bookbinding is no different.

This picture shows a high quality internal cover sheet that has been glued inside the hardback cover and the sheets making up the book itself. As well as adding a degree of quality to the book, it also adds strength to the book binding itself.

The crease in the hardback cover can also be clearly seen. By allowing the book cover to crease at a known point, undue wear can be kept to a minimum.

Here is another picture of the crease that helps to protect the spine from undue wear and tear. It is forced into the cover by clamping the book between two ridged clamps. Pressure is applied by screwing the two ridged pieces together with the book in between. The result is that the book cover is given a crease in the right place, not too close to the edge, that protects the glued pages from undue wear.

This picture is of the inside of the front cover. You can see that the inside cover sheet has been carefully placed over the mitered corners of the book cover, resulting in a neat and tidy quality finish.

If you are considering taking up bookbinding as a hobby these are the sorts of details that will give you quality book coverings with a small amount of effort. Of course, you will need to buy some specialized machinery to carry out the work but quite often I have found it is easier and much cheaper to actually make many of the tools you need rather than buy. Most really aren't that hard to make and by making them yourself you can make sure that they are the right size for your own particular needs.

Softbound Books (Perfect Binding)

In this photo the spine of the book can be seen with the glued pages all securely held by what's called 'Binding", which is made by glueing the edges of the pages together under high pressure to create a tightly held block of pages. Also in this picture is a clearly visible crease that has been made in the outside cover of the book which helps to maintain the integrity of the glued pages.

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