RERAMIC STUDIO 
95 
No. 2 
De la Piffie" des Chretiens envers Ies Morts. Bound by Padeloup, Paris, 1719. 
Courtesy Chas. Scribner's Sons. 
PRACTICAL BOOKBINDING 
Mertice Mac Crea Buck 
AMONG the arts and crafts that have begun to arouse 
the attention of women as possible avocations, one of 
the most fascinating is bookbinding. 
It is well within the physical scope of a woman, it is 
cleanly, and altogether delightful, and offers great future 
possibilities, as the number of Americans increase who 
can indulge in the luxury of line libraries. As this 
number is at present very small, most women binders eke 
out their livelihood by teaching. 
As the work is taught by Douglas Cockerell, Cobden- 
Sanderson, and other famous binders, it takes two or three 
years to acquire a very modest degree of skill, for even 
the simplest "hand-bound" involves about fifty processes. 
I make these statements to satisfy the natural desire for 
knowledge of many women who would like to learn some 
form of handicraft which could be practiced in their own 
homes. 
Time, patience, accuracy, and money are all required 
to make even a start in this craft. This is due to the fact 
that binding has not kept pace with the other applied arts 
in the introduction of labor saving devices. A hand-bound 
book is as much the product of physical labor as a piece of 
real lace. The processes remain the same as they were four 
hundred years ago, when the few volumes in existence 
were mostly confined to communities, like monasteries 
and universities, where they were subject to the wear and 
tear from the touch of hundreds of hands. Most of these 
were fastened to the shelves by chains, as illustration 
No. i, reproduced by the courtesy of Chas. Scribner's Sons. 
This is of course the manuscript, as it was written before 
the invention of printing. The illustrations No. 2 and .3 
are a book and doublure of the same, bound for Marie 
Leczuiska's private library by Padeloup who was one of 
the best of the early 18th century binders; famous for his 
tooling, and for the beauty of his doublures, or inner cover 
bindings. 
Whether the gulf between hand binding and commer- 
cial work will ever be bridged remains to be seen, mean- 
while we of flat purses must choose between having a very 
few well-bound books, or a number of such as will stand 
but little wear. 
There is, however, a substantial style of binding, often 
used by the hand binders for music, by means of which an 
amateur possessed of patience and a few tools, can pro- 
duce a volume which will stand any amount of wear, and 
be quite effective on the library shelf. 
In order to follow the directions given below, it is 
necessary to have first an understanding of the difference 
between a "bound" book and one that is merely "cased," 
as most books are nowadays, when publishers compete 
with each other as to how cheaply they can produce and 
sell their work. In a "bound" book the sheets are laid 
one over the other and sewed over cords or tapes, which 
lie across the outside of the back, the ends being firmly 
laced into the boards which form the sides. The cover of 
cloth or leather or whatever it may be is merely a protec- 
tion and may be torn off without weakening the binding. 
In a "cased" book the sheets are placed in a sewing 
frame as before, and horizontal saw cuts made across the 
back, in which cords are laid. Then if the book ever needs 
rebinding the back of the sheets are full of holes and re- ■ 
quire much mending. The ends of these cords are not 
attached to the boards, which are merely glued to a piece 
going over the back, so that they come off in time if the 
book is much used. 
It is not necessary to know all the many intricate pro- 
cesses which go to make up a really fine binding in order to 
produce a durable book, but these two principles must be 
remembered, that a form of sewing is to be used that does 
not injure the leaves, but does allow the boards to be at- 
tached solidly. 
The amateur, possessed of time, accuracy, and a few- 
tools, can add some satisfactory books to her library if she 
will carefully follow the following directions. In the first 
place, the book chosen to be experimented on should not be a 
very thick one, nor should it be one already punctured 
Doublure of preceding bo.ik U 
No, :; 
und by Padeloup. 
Courtesy Chas. Scribner's Sons. 
