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"GRAPHICS, SCIENCE AND ARTS"

BOOKBINDING

Bookbinding is, of course, the process of fastening together the multiple pages which make up a given book, and covering the result. Given the changes which have occurred in the past ten or fifteen years, both in structural technique and artistic presentation, the subject is complex and often controversial.

Traditionally, the craft of bookbinding is divided into the areas of forwarding and finishing. Forwarding consists of all the procedures leading up to the decoration of the covers. That is, folding the leaves into pages and gathering into signatures or quires, sewing them together, adding endpapers, attaching boards, and covering. In other words, the binding proper. Finishing is a specialized field involving gold (or blind) tooling, and sometimes inlay and on lay work: the artistic embellishment of the binding.

Note that there is a significant difference between Eastern and Western binding. In the west, the sheets of paper are relatively thick and opaque enough to print on both sides, and when folded, are sewn through the fold. In the east the sheets are much thinner and relatively transparent so they are printed on one side only. The sheets are folded so that the printed side is outermost, and the sewing is done opposite the fold, through the edges of the two loose halves. Books sewn in the Eastern style do not open flat.

SOME HAND BOOKBINDING TERMS

GRAIN DIRECTION (Grain) The direction in which most of the fibers in machine made paper lie. Grain direction should be parallel to the spine of the book.

SIGNATURE (or Section) A number of leaves gathered together, folded, and treated as a single binding unit.

BOOK BLOCK (or text block) A group of signatures which form a book.

SPINE The back or folded edges of a group of signatures, or the part of the cover which protects this area.

ROUNDING AND BACKING - Rounding: The formation of the convex spine.

Backing: The formation of the supporting shoulders.

FORE-EDGE The front edge of the book, opposite the spine

END-PAPER A folded sheet of paper or additional blank signature acting as a protection for the book-block and as an attachment of book block to cover.

HEADBAND (End-band) Thread woven around an inner core to form a protection at the head and tail of the spine of the book; often now cloth wrapped around a core.

BANDS The ridges across the spine of the book; the supports around which the sections are sewn.

COVER The outer protection for the book-block.

JOINT - Inner joint (hinge): the inside hinge of the cover made of the fold of the end-paper or of a strip of paper or leather attached to the end-paper.

Outer joint: the point at which the cover boards pivot as the board opens.

SQUARE The portions of the covers of the book which project beyond the edges of the leaves of the book-block.

HEAD-CAP Covering leather shaped over the headband of the book.

TURN-IN The part of the covering material that is turned over the edges of the boards from the outside to the inside at the head, tail, and fore-edge of the book.

CASE A book cover that is constructed completely before affixing to a book-block.

TIPPING The attachment of a leaf to another by means of a narrow strip of adhesive along one edge; mostly used for maps, pates etc.

Materials Required for bookbinding

• Sheets of paper (depending upon the size of the book)
• Piece of cardboard
• Wallpaper, contact paper, felt or cotton fabric
• Paper cutter
• A pair of scissors
• White glue or wallpaper paste
• Needle with a large eye
• Twine, carpet thread, crochet thread or quilting thread.

Procedure

For the Book
Determine the size of the book that you require. Fold the sheets midway. If you want a book of 5 1/2″ x 9″ dimensions use sheets of paper having dimensions of 11″ x 18″ as folding them midway will give you pages of the desired size. Each side of a folded sheet of paper will give four pages. Hence divide the number of pages you want to have for your book by 4. Use one sheet extra than the number that you get. This extra sheet will serve as the first and the last page onto which the cover will be pasted.

Place all the sheets on top of each other. Fold them midway. Clip all the four edges to hold the sheets in place. You can also clip the center of the fold. Beginning ½ '' from the top of the fold, start marking for holes at regular intervals. Make holes with the needles and sew the book along the holes.

For the Cover
Cut two cardboard pieces in the shape of the book. These pieces could be the same size or a little larger than the book's dimensions. Place the two pieces on the felt, cloth or the material you are using to cover the cardboard pieces such that there is a gap of 1/8″ to 1/4″ between them. Draw the outline of the cardboard pieces on the material with a pencil. Remove the cardboard pieces. Now cut the material one inch around the entire outside of the pencil mark.

Apply glue to the cardboard pieces and place them along the pencil mark. Apply glue to the one inch of extra material along the border of the cardboard pieces. Fold in the four corners so that the tip of the corners of the material lies on the diagonal of the cardboard piece. Now fold in the material along the sides of the cardboard. Let the cover dry.

Apply glue to the outer sides of the first and the last page of the book. Place the book carefully along the center of the two cardboard pieces and smooth down. Close the book and place some weight over it. Leave it to dry for a few days.