Aldis, M.A.
Cambridge: at the University Press 1916
(that is, were folded into leaves) some kind of binding
became a necessity. This for two reasons: to keep the leaves
in their right order, and to preserve the outer leaves from
damage. By the time the printed book made its appearance
binding had been practiced for a thousand years or so. Since
the construction of a printed book was similar to that of a
manuscript, the binding naturally followed the same model,
and in essential details the subsequent four centuries have
witnessed but little change. The operations of bookbinding
fall into two main divisions: forwarding and finishing. Each of
these is considered a separate craft. The forwarder carries
the work up to the point at which the book is covered with
the selected material, be it leather, cloth, or other fabric; the
finisher adds the lettering and ornamentation. The methods
materials used for covering and in the decoration that the successive styles and fashions in bindings consist. This
applies to what are properly known as 'bound' books, the work of which is a handicraft, and not to the cloth binding of
everyday modern books, which is mainly a product of machinery and is known as 'cased' work.
The process of binding a book comprises a long series of operations, all requiring a nicety of handling and judgment to
produce the perfect result. Of the principal stages the first consists in folding the sheets, or, if the binder receives
them already folded, in seeing that this has been correctly done. The sheets must be so folded that the leaves come in
their proper order and the pages of type all have the same relative margin. Next, the sheets are collated, that is,
examined to see that they follow each other in light succession; and in this the binder is guided by the signatures, the
small letter or number at the foot of the first page of each sheet. After being beaten, rolled, or pressed, to give it
solidity, the book is ready for sewing. This work is done in a kind of frame, called a sewing press, the sheets being laid
with their backs to a series of four or five upright cords round which the thread is passed on its way out and in along
the back of each sheet. When the sewing is finished these cords stand out as horizontal bands across the back of the
book forming panels as seen in most books bound in leather. A book sewn in this manner is said to be 'sewn flexible.'
In an inferior style of binding grooves are sawn into the back of the sheets and the cords lie in them, so that the
thread merely passes behind the cords instead of going out at the back and right round them.
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