An Essay in the History of Gold-Tooled
Bindings by Herbert P. Horne
London 1894
upright screws, regulating a beam or cross bar, round which are fastened as many loose rings
of cord, called lay cords, a; there are cords to be used in sewing the book. One end of a cord is
then tied to one of the lay cords, and the other end of the cord is next fastened to a small piece
of metal, called a key; which moves along a slot in the bed of the press, immediately beneath,
and parallel with, the beam, or cross bar: and in this manner, all the cords are secured in the
press. The book is then laid on the bed of the press, with the back next to the upright cords:
and the keys are moved to and fro in the slot, and the lay cords to and fro along the beam, until
the position of the cords exactly coincides with the pencil lines, which have been marked on the
back of the book. When they agree, the press is screwed up; and everything is ready for the
sewing. In order to illustrate {he method by which a book is sewn, the back of an early Italian
binding, with double cords, is here figured by the side of an explanatory diagram. [Fig. I and 2.]
A, in fig. 2, is the head, and B the tail, of the first section, which is now laid on the bed of the
press with the pencil marks on its back touching, and coinciding with, the double cords C, C, C,
C, C. A needle and thread is taken through the kettle-stitch D, within the center pages of the
sheet; and is thrust out between the two cords, which make the first band, C. The thread is
then carried in such a way, indicated by the dotted line in the diagram, as to make a complete
circle round each of .the cords; after which it is again introduced within the central pages of the
section. The remaining cords having been sewn in this manner, the thread is finally taken out at
the kettle-stitch hole, E. The second sheet is now placed above the first, and sewn in the same
way; but reversely, from tail to head, instead of from head to tail. When the thread is taken out
by the kettle-stitch hole D of the second sheet, it must be fastened by a knot to the