An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
exceedingly nice and skilful hand. It is, in reality, a twist of two or three, silken or linen,
threads round a square, or oblong, band. If oblong, these bands are made by pasting and
pressing together several thicknesses of vellum, which, when dry, are cut into strips; if
round, catgut is commonly used for them: but either sort must be of such a size that,
when covered, they are somewhat less in height, than the squares of the book, for which
they are intended. The band is cut to a length, which is greater either way, than the
width of the back, by half an inch; and the book is placed in the lying-press with the head,
or tail, which is to be head-banded, raised to a convenient height. If the head-band is to
be worked in two colors, white and green, a green and a white thread are to be neatly
fastened together at one end, and one of them, which must be much longer than the
other, and which we will take to be the white, threaded through a needle. This is twice
passed through the back of the book, in the centre of the second section, beneath the
nearest band on which the book is sewn, so as to leave a loop: the headband is then
placed in this loop, and held fast by the thread being drawn tight. The green thread is now
twisted round the white once, and round the band twice j after which the white is to be
twisted round the green, and round the band twice j this process being repeated until the
whole of the band is covered: but the needle must be passed through the back, at every
third, or fourth, section, in order to secure the head-band. When the head-band is
covered, the twist is fastened off by passing the needle through the back twice, and
twisting the green thread round the white, under the vellum, after which they are securely
tied together. Party-coloured head-bands of this nature date from the beginning of the
sixteenth century; and an early example, worked in blue silk, and silver thread, is to be
seen on a copy, preserved in the British Museum, of the Aldine Petrarch, printed in 1501,
which I shall describe in its place. Head-bands in one colour, are worked in a similar
fashion; while those in three colors are worked, of course, with three threads. In these
days of commerce, head-bands are rarely worked by hand: indeed, the number of skilled
head-banders, in London, at the present time, is very small. Most bookbinders use the
machine-made head-band: these can be purchased of any size, or colour, at a moderate
price, and are stuck on.
The head-band is now set with glue: and if the bands are to show upon the back, they are
first moistened with paste, and worked with a folding stick, or some such blunt instrument,
until they are smooth and regular. If however the bands are not intended to show, after
the book is covered, they are rubbed as flat as possible, and two or more thicknesses of
leather are fitted and pasted between them, until the whole of the back present’s one
level surface.