FIRST STAGES

It’s a pity that you don’t get to see how well a book is made on the inside until it is time to pull the pages and re-bind it. (Unless of course it is a Japanese style stab stitched book, or coptic bound.) I do tradtional fine binding which means that all the separate signatures are sewn together with linen thread before being attached to the boards which are then covered.

If you buy a new hardback novel these days, it is more than likely that it will be a glorified paperback in a hard jacket. Even the hardback editions with headbands stuck on are not usually properly bound with sewn signatures. It is such a shame.

This is what a properly sewn stack of signatures on tapes should look like. There are lots of different patterns of sewing signatures, this is just one of them.

After all the signatures are sewn, I round the back, and glue on a piece of scrim, and attach the boards. Then I sew the headbands. These are worked in silk thread of two or more colours over a core of leather and sewn through the signatures.  I usually sew a simple headband on a single core but there are many different types of headband designs. The traditional headband is meant not only as decoration but also as a means to protect the spine edges of the book. Headbands which are made separately and stuck on not only look a bit slap-dash, they just don’t do the job.

Rounding the spine means that the book will open out very nicely.

FINAL STAGES

This is my Nanowrimo 2008 notebook finished. It’s A6 size, half-bound with hand-dyed purplish pink pigskin and olive bookcloth. The effect of the hollow and rounded back can be seen here . The endpapers are taken from an old map of Scotland.