Oliver Cromwell
Green Levant—inlays of red and black leather. Decorative tooling in gold.
Green Levant—inlays of red and black leather. Decorative tooling in gold.
Title: Bib-li-op-e-gis-tic (Pertaining to the art of binding books.—Dibdin)
Author: Trow's Printing and Bookbinding Company
Release date: February 21, 2012 [eBook #38946]
Most recently updated: January 8, 2021
Language: English
Credits: Produced by Chris Curnow, Jana Srna and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This
file was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)
Transcriber's Note:
Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including any inconsistencies in the original.
(Pertaining to the art of binding books.—Dibdin)
to which is appended
a glossary of some
terms used in
the craft
With Illustrations of
Bindings Designed and Executed by
The Trow Press, New York
The craft of the bookbinder is older than that of the printer. Quoting from Mr. Brander Matthews:
“Perhaps the first bookbinder was the humble workman who collected the baked clay tiles on which the Assyrians wrote their laws; and he was a bookbinder also who prepared a protecting cylinder to guard the scrolls of papyrus on which Vergil, and Horace, and Martial had written their verses.”
Modern art in bookbinding began in Italy in the fifteenth century. The invention of printing had so multiplied books that the work got out of the hands of the monks, and workmen from other trades were pressed into service, bringing with them their skill in working leather, as well as their tools, and designs which they had previously used to decorate their work.
At this time the libraries were shelves, so inclined, as to allow of the books lying on their sides, inviting their decoration. At first the embellishment was suggested or influenced by the work in the volume, and very often there would be found on the cover, repetition of the typographic ornaments used by the printer.
But with the associations and influence of the other decorative arts, there came the use of interlacing bands, scrolls, and geometric designs, followed by copies of patterns and parts of designs from laces, embroideries, pottery and ironwork of the times. And with the broadening in the ideas of decoration, came the use of inlays of leather of harmonizing colors, and even of precious stones.
While the art was developing in Italy, largely under French patronage, it was also beginning to flourish in France, where later it reached its supremacy. So much so that up to the nineteenth century it was “France first and the rest nowhere.”
In no work more than in binding have the French shown their fine artistic taste, and in the famous collections of the world the choicest specimens are by French binders of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.
France to-day has many binders of great skill and good taste, but no longer holds the supremacy of the earlier days. England has developed some craftsmen of great skill and original artistic feeling, even though their best efforts are many times but reproductions of older models.
Barely fifty years ago America did not have a binder capable of covering a volume to compare with the work of the artisans of France or even England. But in that time there have developed shops where work of such merit is done that it is now no longer necessary to send one's precious tomes abroad to be properly clothed.
The true book lover as well as the collector desires for his treasures a suitable binding, and there is to-day an increasing demand for fine binding on individual volumes as well as on sets.
This demand is not satisfied with “commercial binding” and is too intelligent to accept extravagant work, extravagant in over-decoration as well as in price.
The art of bookbinding is now so widely known and the taste and judgment of the public so thoroughly educated by the efforts of the Grolier Club and similar associations that good work and good material are appreciated, genuine and suitable decoration recognized and the best results obtained in the combination of an intelligent customer and a skilled and artistic workman.
The production of fine bindings is not a new departure with us, but has been carried on for many years in what has been aptly described as, a “quality” department of a “quantity” business, where fine work can be executed at prices that are not prohibitive.
It is under the direction of a skilled craftsman, and the workmen are encouraged to excel in careful and conscientious work.
Our endeavor is to produce books which are not surpassed for elegance, elasticity, and durability—the three great requisites of a well bound book.
With technical knowledge to aid us in the selection of the best materials, and excellent tools, we strive for that result which is described as “flawless material faultlessly treated.”
The decoration, if any, is designed in complete harmony with the text, and where warranted, we call to our aid the foremost decorative designers and artists of the day.
The older models are followed where original designs are not required; and where simplicity is desired, we hold to the belief in “the undecorated surface of flawless material,” bearing in mind the sobriety of treatment, but careful execution which distinguishes the best work of the past.
As a new departure we are showing the use of specially designed cloths for sides and linings, in place of the German marbled papers and French “combs,” the most of which as Miss Prideaux says “produce the effect of violent color thrown on wet blotting paper.”
Used as sides on half or three-quarter leather styles, the cloth gives greater durability, as the surface does not rub, nor will the edges wear off where turned over, as happens with the use of marbled papers.
As linings they obviate the use of the extra cloth joint, which is unsightly, but necessary for strength with the use of marbled paper; with their use the folded edge is pasted in the joint, allowing the cover to be lifted without drawing the end papers away from the book.
Good taste, and harmony of color are assured by their wide variety, and in addition some new and novel effects may sometimes be secured.
We solicit the binding of a single volume, in any manner, whether it be in half, three-quarter, or full leather, with simple or elaborate treatment.
We will undertake the binding of a complete collection or library and will submit quotations where desired, or proceed under an appropriation by the customer.
We will carefully attend to special instructions for the extending, interleaving or rebinding of extra illustrated work, presentation copies, memorial editions, etc.
We also undertake the repairing of any bindings, carefully and skillfully mending any torn leaves, and properly guarding any loose sheets or inserts.
Azured. Ornamentation outlined in gold and crossed with horizontal lines.
Bands. (1) The cord whereon the sheets of a volume are sewn. (2) The ridges on the back caused by the bands raising the leather. Head Band. A knitting of silk or thread worked in at the head and foot of the shelf back of the book.
Boards. A temporary binding with a cover made of boards and paper. Mill Boards. The boards that are attached to the book, giving stiffening to the cover.
Bosses. Brass or other metal pieces attached to the covers of a book, for ornamentation or protection.
Burnish. The gloss produced by the application of the burnisher to the edges after coloring, marbling or gilding.
Collating. Examining the signatures, after a volume has been folded and gathered, to ascertain if they be in correct sequence.
Dentelle. A style resembling lace work, finished with very finely cut tools.
Doublé. When the inside of the cover is lined with leather, it is termed a doublé.
End Papers or Lining Papers. The papers, plain or fancy, placed at each end of the volume and pasted down upon the boards.
Fillet. A cylindrical tool used in finishing, upon which a line or lines are engraved.
Finishing. Comprises tooling, lettering, polishing, etc.
Flexible. A book sewn on raised bands, with the thread passed entirely around each band, allowing the book to open freely.
Fore edge. The front edge of the leaves.
Forwarding. Comprises all the operations between preparing and finishing, including the forming and trimming of the books, and the covering of the boards.
Gaufre Edges. Impressions made with the finisher's tools on the edges of the book after gilding.
Gouge. A finishing tool forming the segment of a circle.
Guards. Strips of paper inserted in the backs of books, upon which inserts are mounted, intended to prevent the books being uneven in thickness when filled.
Inlaying. (1) Extending “extra” illustrations by inserting them in leaves to correspond to the size of a book. (2) A style of Mosaic work made by the insertion of vari-colored leathers or other material on the cover or doublé.
Kettle-Stitch. A catch-stitch formed in sewing at the head and foot.
Lacing-In. Lacing the bands on which the book is sewn through holes in the boards to attach them.
Limp. A cover without boards or other stiff materials, allowing the sides to be pliable.
Marbling. A method of coloring the edges or end papers in various patterns, obtained by floating colors on a gum solution.
Mitred. Tooled lines meeting at a right angle without overrunning.
Morocco. A fine kind of grained leather prepared from goatskin. Levant Morocco. The skin of the monarch breed of goat; a large grained Morocco.
Overcasting. Oversewing the back edges of single leaves of weak sections; also called whipstitching or whipping.
Pointillé. The dotted style of Le Gascon.
Preparing. Comprising all the preliminary operations up to “forwarding,” including folding, gathering, collating, and sewing.
Register. When the printing on one side of a leaf falls exactly over that on the other it is said to “register.”
Rolls. Cylindrical ornamental tools used in finishing.
Sawing-in. When grooves are made in the back with a saw to receive the bands.
Semis. A diaper design made up of the repetition of one or more small tools.
Signature. Each folded sheet or section of a book.
Squares. The portion of the covers projecting beyond the edges of the book.
Tall Copy. So called when the book has not been reduced in size by trimming, with the leaves entirely uncut.
Tooling. Impressing the design or pattern in gold leaf, with finishing tools, by hand. Blind Tooling. The impression of finishing tools without gold leaf.
Ornaments of solid face without any shading whatever, such as used by Aldus and other early Italian printers. The ornaments are of Arabic character. A style appropriate for early printed literature.
An interlaced framework of geometrical figures—circles, squares, and diamonds—with scrollwork running through it, the ornaments which are of Moresque character, generally azured in whole or in part, sometimes in outline only. Parts of the design are often studded with gold dots. Time, first half of the 16th century.
A style prior to and contemporary with the early (Italian) examples of the Grolier. Generally composed of a framework of shields or medallions, with a design of scrollwork flowing through it. Portions of the design are usually studded with gold dots. Ornaments are of Moresque character.
A framework of various geometrical-shaped compartments linked together by interlaced circles; the centers of the compartments are filled with small floral ornaments, and the irregular spaces surrounding them, with circular scrolls and branches of laurel and palm. An elaborate style used at the end of the 16th and beginning of the 17th century.
A design inlaid with different colors. The cover may be of any shade, but the style is especially effective when the cover is of white vellum in imitation of illuminated manuscripts.
The distinguishing feature of this style is the dotted face of the ornaments instead of the continuous or solid line. In vogue the first half of the 17th century, immediately succeeding the period of Nicholas and Clovis Ève.
This style has ornaments of a leafy character, with a more solid face, though lightly shaded by the graver and is best exemplified in borders. The ornaments are often styled Renaissance, being an entire change from the Gascon. Time, 18th century.
The ornaments of this style are easily identified, being free and flowing in stem and flower; whereas before Payne's time they had been stiff and formal. The honeysuckle is a customary ornament. The impressions of the tools are usually studded round with gold dots, whether used in borders, corners, or center pieces.
Without line or ornament either in blank or gold. It permits decoration on the inside of the cover, but demands absolute plainness on the outside, with the exception of lettering. It is only appropriate for crushed levant, being dependent for its beauty on the polished surface of the leather. It takes its name from the followers of Jansenius, Bishop of Ypres, who were advocates of plainness in worship.
Trow Directory, Printing and Bookbinding Company
201–213 East 12th Street
New York City
