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Bound Together: The Art of Bookbinding
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By James Monahan
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Imagine having to read a book that has 1000 pages long. That, initself, may be a daunting task.
Now, imagine having to read it with all its pages falling off!Close to impossible!
Bookbinding is the art of assembling a book from separate sheetsof paper. If a book does not go through bookbinding, it cannotbe properly called a book.
Historical The art of bookbinding goes back to the times of theancient Romans. These Romans created simple books called codices(codex in the singular term). Each codex would be bound bysewing sheets of vellum together. This was a significantadvancement from the times when rolled-up papyrus or vellumscrolls were used.
The Romans quickly found out that codices were easier to handleand write on, not to mention easier to read.
Later on, books were bound using hard covers that would sandwichthe pages to be bound. However, stitching was still the methodused to fasten the pages together. They were created bystitching folded sheets at the seam. During this period, therewere no standards on creating books; so pretty every book thatwas bound was a unique creation that would vary from other booksin size and style.
With the advent of modern printing presses, bookbinding began toevolve into a standardized industry somewhat. However, pagesstill varied considerably.
Nowadays, bookbinding is a highly standardized art. Today'stechnology allows for binding processes to be performed withsimilar quality.
Modern commercial binding
There are five major categories of bookbinding nowadays: thehardcover, the paperback, the cardboard article, and the sewnbook, and the comb-bound book perfect bound.
Hardcovers or hardbound books have rigid covers that arestitched at the spine. Looking from the top of the spine, thebook can be seen to consist of a number of signatures boundtogether. When the book is opened in the middle of a signature,the binding threads are all visible.
A paperback book consists of a number of signatures orindividual leaves between covers of much heavier paper, gluedtogether at the spine with a strong flexible glue. This is alsoknown as perfect binding.
A cardboard article looks like a hardbound book at first sight,but in reality it is closer to the paperback in construction.Cardboard articles can be called paperbacks with harder covers.They are not as durable as hardbound books and usually fallapart after little use. A sewn book is constructed in the sameway as a hardbound book, except that it lacks the hard covers.The binding is as durable as a hardbound book.
A comb-bound book is made of individual sheets. These sheetseach have a line of slits punched near the bound edge. A curledplastic "comb" is then inserted into the slits to hold thesheets together. Comb binding allows a book to be disassembledand reassembled by hand without damage.
Magazines are considered less permanent than books. Therefore,the binding methods for such are usually of lesser quality. Mostmagazines are bound together by staples that hold together itspage spreads. Since magazines have fewer pages, stapling issufficient to bind its pages together.
Even with the advent of e-books and electronic means forpublishing written materials, books still remain the readingmaterial of choice for the majority of the population. Itremains to be seen how today's ever changing technology willchange the ancient art and modern wonder of bookbinding.
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