Bound Together: The Art of Bookbinding
Imagine having to read a book that has 1000 pages long. That, in
itself, may be a daunting task.
Now, imagine having to read it with all its pages falling off!
Close to impossible!
Bookbinding is the art of assembling a book from separate sheets
of paper. If a book does not go through bookbinding, it cannot
be properly called a book.
Historical The art of bookbinding goes back to the times of the
ancient Romans. These Romans created simple books called codices
(codex in the singular term). Each codex would be bound by
sewing sheets of vellum together. This was a significant
advancement from the times when rolled-up papyrus or vellum
scrolls were used.
The Romans quickly found out that codices were easier to handle
and write on, not to mention easier to read.
Later on, books were bound using hard covers that would sandwich
the pages to be bound. However, stitching was still the method
used to fasten the pages together. They were created by
stitching folded sheets at the seam. During this period, there
were no standards on creating books; so pretty every book that
was bound was a unique creation that would vary from other books
in size and style.
With the advent of modern printing presses, bookbinding began to
evolve into a standardized industry somewhat. However, pages
still varied considerably.
Nowadays, bookbinding is a highly standardized art. Today's
technology allows for binding processes to be performed with
similar quality.
Modern commercial binding
There are five major categories of bookbinding nowadays: the
hardcover, the paperback, the cardboard article, and the sewn
book, and the comb-bound book perfect bound.
Hardcovers or hardbound books have rigid covers that are
stitched at the spine. 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 all visible.
A paperback book consists of a number of signatures or
individual leaves between covers of much heavier paper, glued
together at the spine with a strong flexible glue. This is also
known as perfect binding.
A cardboard article looks like a hardbound book at first sight,
but in reality it is closer to the paperback in construction.
Cardboard articles can be called paperbacks with harder covers.
They are not as durable as hardbound books and usually fall
apart after little use. 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 a hardbound book.
A comb-bound book is made of individual sheets. These sheets
each have a line of slits punched near the bound edge. A curled
plastic "comb" is then inserted into the slits to hold the
sheets together. Comb binding allows a book to be disassembled
and reassembled by hand without damage.
Magazines are considered less permanent than books. Therefore,
the binding methods for such are usually of lesser quality. Most
magazines are bound together by staples that hold together its
page spreads. Since magazines have fewer pages, stapling is
sufficient to bind its pages together.
Even with the advent of e-books and electronic means for
publishing written materials, books still remain the reading
material of choice for the majority of the population. It
remains to be seen how today's ever changing technology will
change the ancient art and modern wonder of bookbinding.