British Bookbindings Presented By Kenneth H. Oldaker to the Chapter Library of Westminster Abbey

Nixon, Howard M.

ISBN 10: 0901953040 / ISBN 13: 9780901953049

Published by Maggs Bros, London, 1982

About this Item

Hardcover with gilt lettered front board, no dust jacket, in very good condition. Small mark to the front board. Page block and page edges are lightly tanned. Stamp on FEP, title page and rear pastedown. Boards are otherwise clean, binding is sound and pages are clear. LW.

Seller Inventory # 610723

Bibliographic Details

• Title: British Bookbindings Presented By Kenneth H. Oldaker to the Chapter Library of Westminster Abbey
• Publisher: Maggs Bros, London
• Publication Date: 1982
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0901953040
• ISBN 13: 9780901953049
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket
• Book Type: Used
• Seller catalogs:
  • History - British

About this title

Synopsis

The process of binding books in principle has always been very much the same. The folded sheets were originally sewed to leather bands, the ends of which were fastened to wooden boards, the boards being then joined together and covered with leather. Cords have been substituted for leather bands. Binder's board has taken the place of wood for the sides, and cloth and paper to a certain extent has superseded leather for the covers. In early books the sections consisted of four sheets folded to make eight leaves. An old wooden binding, with mortise by which book was held while being read The section mark or signature was usually written at the foot of the last page. To assist in the collation the first word of a page was repeated under the last line of the preceding page. Page numbers, or folios, came into use in the Fourteenth Century, The sawed back (by which method the binding cords were sunk into the leaves of the book) was first used in the Sixteenth Century. In the Sixteenth and Seventeenth centuries books were covered with velvet, silk and linen. Many of these were embroidered sumptuously. Gold tooling was introduced into Europe late in the Fifteenth Century. Half-binding, of German origin, is a style of binding wherein leather is used only for the backs and corners the parts receiving the most wear