An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
necessary, that we should first be acquainted with its various technical methods, especially in so
far as these control, and determine, the nature of the design and workmanship employed in its
productions. A fine example, not only of the bookbinder's, but, also, of every other, art is directly
the result of the limitations imposed upon the skill and taste of the workman, by the process of
his craft, and by the materials used in its practice. To appreciate these limitations in the binder's
art, we must follow the various stages through which a book passes, in his hands; or, at least,
for our present purpose, as many of these as are necessary to the production of fine and
sumptuous bindings.
FOLDING - If the book is in sheets, or 'quires,' the first stage, through which it passes, is that of
folding. This is effected by an instrument called a folding stick: and great nicety is requisite, or
the A book, especially if its margins are small, will be seriously damaged, when its edges are cut;
a fault, which we find even Le Gascon committing, according to the letters of Peiresc. If the
printer has justly 'imposed his former,' and the folder correctly done his part, the fields of the
type will coincide, and the several margins be equal, throughout the book. A sheet, or quire,
thus folded is called a section: the top of the sheet is called the head; the bottom, the tail; and
the front edge of the sheet, the fore-edge. If the book has already been cased, or bound, then
it is, first, pulled to pieces, or divided. The glue is removed from the back, the threads with which
the book is sewn are cut, and the sections, ,\S they are pulled apart, are laid evenly one upon
another.
When the binder comes to pull in pieces a modern book, which has been cased, that is to say,
temporarily bound in cloth, or paper, he often finds, that the sections have been irreparably
damaged. This injury is the result of the casing having been viciously done, and without regard
for the permanent binding, which is likely to supersede it, if the book is of value. A volume
temporarily bound should be folded as carefully as a book permanently bound; but it should not
be pressed, or rolled, or beaten. It should be sewn, but it should not be sawn; and the back
should be left intact. Neither single sheets, nor any sections, should be pasted on, or overcast;
but sewn with the rest of the book; the former having first been mounted upon guards. The
end-papers, moreover, should not be pasted on, but sewn with the quires of the volume.