A Note on Bookbinding

A Note On Bookbinding by Douglas Cockerell. This concise treatise, issued in 1904, surveys how libraries and binders should approach bookbinding, balancing quality and cost, and drawing on extracts from the Special Committee of the Society of Arts on Leather for Bookbinding. It explains the three broad classes of books—those of value or special interest requiring the best hand workmanship, those of permanent interest that should be bound well but not extravagantly, and those of temporary use that may be bound more cheaply. The work then outlines two primary binding specifications: Specification I for heavy or valuable books and Specification II for ordinary library binding, with detailed guidance on sheets, endpapers, sewing, boards, lacing, headbands, and edge treatments, plus the French joint and other methods to preserve opening action. It discusses leathers (seal, pigskin, morocco, sheepskin, calf) and cautions against imitation, stressing honesty of materials. The volume also covers guidance on placing orders, a price list, and the concept of binding from the sheets to improve durability. Publication is attributed to W. H. Smith & Son.