Essential guidance on making books durable and beautiful
This non‑fiction volume, Papers on Bookbinding, offers practical techniques and historical context for library and private bindings. It blends hands‑on instructions with notes on early and later traditions, helping readers understand how bindings affect longevity and legibility.

The book covers step‑by‑step methods for preparing and binding library volumes, including careful collation, leaf repair, and appropriate sewing methods. It explains glue, backing, and pressing, plus the use of tapes, muslin, and liners to strengthen bindings while preserving the book’s form.

• Durable binding techniques for different formats, from 12mo to larger volumes


• Guidance on materials such as morocco, cloth, roan, and decorative papers


• Architectural details of backs, corners, edges, headbands, gilding, and marbling


• Historical notes on English and French binding traditions, and pricing ideas for libraries

Ideal for librarians, binders, students, and collectors who want clear, practical directions and a window into the craft’s history.

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books.

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This text has been digitally restored from a historical edition. Some aesthetic errors may persist, however it has been deemed that any such will not detract from the work's significant historical value.

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