The Binding makes the Book! - Part Two (and a History Lesson!)

Hello again, this is Part Two of my posts about some of the many Binding Types and Styles used for making books.  See Part One here.  

The first post had some notes about Single-signature Bindings, the traditional Case Binding and Longstitch Bindings. 

I would just note here, that I am not an "expert" bookbinder - after a couple of comments, which made me feel I was being regarded somewhat in this light, I felt I should just make this clear.  I have been learning for a couple of years, have read a fair bit, taken a couple of short courses and tried a number of bindings myself.  I have been selling my own work for about 18 months and it has improved immensely over that period (!). That is where I am writing from; if you want to know more, then there are lots of books and websites, where you can get more information.  I will include a list of some I have come across, towards the end of my "Binding makes the Book" set of posts. 

Okay, so now I've got that off my chest....

I thought I would continue my amble through the various bindings I've tried, or read a bit about.  I'm trying to order them in a reasonably logical way, but I may end up jumping back later, to something I feel I left out.

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So, still on the theme of bindings that are sewn on the spine edge of the book:

Coptic Bindings - A Short-and-possibly-fancifully-inaccuate History Lesson

This style of binding always makes me feel a sense of the History of bookbinding (in the Western and Middle-Eastern world).  Aside from scrolls, this kind of book is among the most ancient styles of binding in the world.

Ancient civilisations, such as the Egyptians, made long sheets of papyrus, leather, skins or parchment material.  They would draw, write or paint their messages onto the surface (ie paper) and then roll it round a stick - or two sticks, to make a scroll. 

Image source

This kept the writing surface clean, dry and scratch-free.  It was easy enough to read a scroll - especially the double-ended kind.  You unrolled from one end, rolling the end up onto the other stick as you read.  Scrolls could be set up to read vertically or horizontally.  Very handy...  Very bulky and tricky to store.... Easy to get confused, lose your place, write the same bit twice...

The Greeks and Romans were quite clever and developed a writing tablet, a set of boards, coated in clay or wax, with a hinge, which could be closed to protect the contents. 

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The wax was inscribed, using pointed tools.  The only thing was, this wasn't very permanent... Even so, adaptations of this tablet were still used in Europe during the C19th!

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So people began to cut the long strips of papyrus, parchment etc into smaller sheets, then store them in piles - perhaps with a stone to weight them down and prevent them becoming scattered or lost. Then they put wooden boards on top, to keep the parchments clean and protect them. These progressed into a sort-of sandwich, with a board each side, which could then be made into a storage folder, by the simple addition of leather strips on one side.  Also, people worked out that they could fold sheets of parchment and write either side, also tucking several sheets together, to form a codex, or early un-bound book.

Another way of dealing with the nuisance of scrolls, was to fold them into accordians, or folios.  Many were written in columns, so it was not to difficult to arrange the columns to be folded at regular intervals.  This made reading and storage a lot easier. 

People worked out that they could cut the folios up, into folded sections, then tuck them inside each other.  They began to glue or sew these folios together, although the order of the writing would have been a bit tricky to follow and the pages may have been curvy. 

Eventually then, folios and codices became the common way to write down and store information.  Then ways were found to connect the folios together with stitching, making a codex of numerous pages, which formed a cohesive block. 

The boards used to protect these were then attached, using leather strips or thongs,  then the leather strips began to be stitched to the edges of each folio, forming a strong and solid book-like block, with covers.  The covers were attached by making holes and lacing the supporting thongs or cords through the holes.

Experimentation produced a variety of ways to attach covers and gradually people found ways to create covers from lighter materials, such as leather.  Western Book-binding had begun and it continued to develop throughout the Middle-Eastern and European parts of the world and beyond.  

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Of course, the Chinese and Japanese Empires had long-ago developed their own methods of binding (and paper!) - but that really is another story!

And why "Coptic" bindings?  It is widely believed (perhaps not completely accurately), that an ancient group of Egyptian people called the "Copts" were responsible for developing this style of binding, where the pages are stitched at their edges and the covers laced onto the top and bottom of the codex.
In any case, it is certain that the Copts really did make books in this way, whether they were the originators of this style, or not and the name has been adopted and become part of the modern language of book-binding.

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Modern-style Coptic Binding

There are a number of types of binding, which people refer to as "Coptic" bindings.  They are all a form of chain-stitch binding, where the stitching is made at the folded edge of each signature, attaching them together, but allowing the book to open out flat.  I will refer to this style of binding as "Coptic", because that is what is generally used - whether accurately or not!

A Coptic or Chain-stitch binding can be used with, or without covers.  The covers for such a book can be made from many materials - wood, boards (pulp / fibre/ cardboard), paper of various weights, leather - firm or soft, fabrics, even plastics or natural materials, such as bark, leaves etc.  Book binders and artists often experiment with covering materials and everyone has their own favourites. 

The Coptic style is very popular for journals, notebooks, scrapbooks, even photo albums.  It is strong and also flexible.  It also looks attractive - although if the spine has no covering material, it makes the book more vulnerable to dust, dirt and damage.  Coptic Stitch is one of my own favourites and very popular with my customers.  I have sold quite a number of guest books and albums this year, with a decorative chain stitch binding.  I enjoyed playing with the way I attached the covers, to make patterns - which was also well-received by customers of my Etsy shop!

 A Coptic-bound book will open flat

A Six-thread Coptic Binding

 Fancy stitch pattern

 Binding pattern on Coptic style Wedding Album

Two-coloured binding, in red and chocolate

If you're interested in seeing more about how I make this type of book, I made a post here: http://lizziemade.blogspot.com/2011/02/flowers-and-birds-album-story.html

(although I have since switched to using curved needles!)

More:

To see more examples of lovely Coptic style bindings, try these links:

Embossed Faux Crocodile Photo Album - Parkside Harmony

Pomegranate Paisley in Green

Mesquite Wood and Rattlesnake Book with historic binding - Mary Jane Henley

Coptic Bound Lego Book - Moonlightbindery

Posh Peacock Guest Book - Emerson Bindery

Wild Cherry Mono Journal - Blue Roof Designs

Six Journals - Rhonda Miller, My Handbound Books

And here is a great post about Chain Stitch binding (which will probably explain much that I don't know!):

A Little History of the Chain Stitch, by Rhonda Miller, My Handbound Books

Thanks for reading - I hope this was interesting! I hope to post installment Part Three soon. 

The Binding makes the Book! - Part One

I thought I'd make a set of posts about some of the Binding Styles  for books.  I posted some photos of a scrapbook that I had made this week, and someone commented that she liked the binding, but wasn't sure if it was a "stab stitch" - it was, in fact a "coptic stitch" type of binding...

There are loads of different Bindings for books (not all of which are sewn/stitched), but they do tend to fall into a number of categories.  I'll start with some hand-stitched bindings...

Single-Signature Bindings

Firstly, the most basic form of stitched binding, which can produce lovely results and is so very simple - the Pamphlet single-signature binding:

A single, folded stack of sheets are stitched with one row of running stitch - or a sort-of backstitch.  Usually a cover is added, which is just a piece of paper or other material, folded round the signature and attached with the same row of stitching.

Pamphlet Notebooks make great presents and are handy to keep for your own use.  They are sooooo easy to make and also quite quick.  You can use pretty much any paper for them, though the number of pages you can use depends on the thickness of your paper.  It's a great way to use up spare sheets - the books can be pretty much any size you want, so you can even make mini-books!

I published a Tutorial on making Pamphlet Notebooks, why not have a go yourself?

A selection of simple Pamphlet notebooks, with ribbon fastenings.

Find other pamphlet-style books here:

25 Single Signature Booklets by Parkside Harmony

Trio of Decorative Pamphlets by Katie Gonzalez, LinenLaid&Felt

Set of 3 Notebooks by Ruth Bleakley

Other stitched single-signature bindings:

A Scrap-book, made with a single signature of stiff cartridge paper.  The cover is art paper, which has been folded at the front edge, to give a double layer of paper, for extra stiffness and decoration. 

It would be possible to cut a window in the front cover, into which you could put a photo or title label, which would be covered on the inside, by the folded-in flap of the cover.  The flaps on the covers also hide the back of the brad and waxed cotton thread I used for the wrap-round fastening.

Or you could cut tabs at the top and bottom of the part you are folding to the inside of the cover, then glue the tabs to form a pocket.

I glued an embroidered piece of felt onto the centre of the cover-fold, before the binding was done, to make a funky decoration.  Essentially, although a decorative and "fancy" version, this is still a simple pamphlet-style book, with a single section of paper.

  

 

These two pairs of books are essentially single-signature bindings.  The inside pages do not need to be folded, as the stitching is done through the top of the signature, instead of along the fold. This makes it a good way to use up a stack of small sheets, or off-cuts from a bigger project (or just an easy project for you and your paper-cutter!).

The covers are stitched to the inside paper, through the back only, so that the front cover forms a flap, which falls over the top of the paper and hides the stitching. The covering paper has been creased in the middle, to make a sort-of spine (the creases are the same distance apart as the thickness of the page-stack - remember to allow for this when cutting papers for your own version! You could cut it a bit long, then trim the covers carefully after binding).

In the first set above - the Travel notebooks - a feature is made of the stitching, and extra strength added, by using coloured eyelets to support the cover-stitching. 

These are not much different to the pamphlet notebooks.  They're a kind-of hybrid between a pamphlet style and a side binding (which I will get to in a later post!).

Case Binding

The traditional "Case Binding", is what you find in most hardback - and many soft-back - books that you would buy in the shops (though commercial books are usually either stitched by machines, or just glued together at the spine edge).

 

The pages are folded into sections, or "signatures" of several sheets each, then these are pierced with a row of holes, stacked on top of each other and stitched together. Often, linen or cotton tapes are placed at right angles to the spine and the holes are made in pairs, either side of the tapes, so the stitches go over these tapes as the sewing is done. 

A "kettle stitch", or "link stitch" is used to connect down to the next signature, with the thread made into a little looped knot, to hold all the sewing firmly; then the stitches go through the next signature, out the end, kettle stitch, next signature, etc etc.... 

This makes a very strong and firm binding, which is why this type of sewing is very popular in traditional bookbinding.

Here, the stitched signatures have been covered at the spine edge, with mull (stiff muslin fabric) and paper, for a smooth finish. You can see the bumps of linen tapes, over which the running-stitches were made.  There are also headbands - the coloured fabric strips often attached at the head (top) and tail (base) of a traditional book binding.

The whole stack of pages often has a folded piece of paper attached at each end of the book, called the "end-papers", which are then glued into a "case" - solid hard or semi-hard covers with an attached piece that forms the "spine".  The end-papers in the above two examples are green and navy art paper;  patterned - especially marbled - papers are traditionally used for end-papers, especially with a plain cloth-bound, or tooled leather cover.  





Sometimes the back cover has a second "spine" attached, to the right side, to make a fold-over flap, such as in the examples below:

So, that's a Case Binding.

Adaptations of that binding are common and sometimes a similar stitching technique is used, to connect the signatures of the book, but the stitching is done over cords or strings, which are then attched to the covers directly - by "lacing". 

Perhaps you can see the white linen stitches, over the paper cords, that I used to sew this binding?  Also, on the ends of the signatures, you can see the white stitches, that keep the sections firmly together. 

(porcelain heart button courtesy of  Hodgepodgearts on Etsy)

Often, such bindings are enclosed in a case-type cover.  The cords can be allowed to show, as raised decorations on the spine, or else they can be made to sit flat, so they do not really show.

See these examples of traditional cord and leather bindings:

Cordbound Leather Journal, by KarleighJae

Classic Cordbound Sketchbook, by Daniel Heywood

Longstitch Binding

Another way of attaching a book to its covers, is to stitch the sections directly to a wrap-round covering.  This can have a stiffener in the spine, also linings to stiffen the front and back covers, or just be left as a soft wrap-cover. 

  

There are various ways of making Longstitch bindings.  The example above is a very basic and simple form - some have more complex - and more robust - ways of attaching the sections, so they are connected together more firmly.  Many longstitch bindings are very decorative.  It's possible to cross, plait or weave the threads, to make patterns, or to thread beads onto the binding as you stitch. 

Some bookbinders I know make fabulous longstitch bound books, some with beautiful decorations.

More

Marie - Wee Bindery

Rhonda Miller - MyHandBoundBooks 

Katie Gonzalez - LinenLaid&Felt

Beth - UberArt

I think this post is long enough; I will make another one - or two - about other bindings and post them soon!  I hope that (so far) this has been an interesting and perhaps a bit useful tutorial.

Bloggers' Block and a Photo Gallery

I haven't written a blog post for ages. More than two weeks. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about - life is busy and there's been lots going on.  It's not that I have no interesting photos - I've taken quite a few, of our few days away by the sea, of books and projects I've been working on, of the cat, even of my computer... 

I think I have writer's block - or blogger's block at least.  I've kind of run out of steam... or just don't feel like putting the kettle on anyway.

I'm not tired of blogging - I like having a blog and writing posts.  I love reading what my blog friends have written. I'm not depressed, or too tired - I'm fine and quite contented (other than not having written any blog posts).  It's not even "can't-be-bothered-itis" - if I could come up with something, I'd have written several posts....

I just don't know what to write about.  Yet, I have plenty of subject material. 

Perhaps I will have a little "Photo Gallery" of my favourite pictures from the last three or so weeks.  That might produce something interesting...

22nd August - Wells-Next-the-Sea, North Norfolk

 We stayed at the YHA....

 This house is the one we want to buy and live in, if we happen to win the Lottery any time soon.

After our tea, we went "out for pudding" - there's a Dutch sailing boat, called the Albatross, which sits in the harbour all summer.  They have a restaurant and bar.  You can sit downstairs and play games, then eat the most fabulous Dutch Pancakes - mine was apple & cinnamon!

Then we had an evening stroll along the harbour, before heading back to the hostel for a good night's sleep.

Tuesday 23rd August - Hunstanton

My two nieces came to Hunstanton for the day, along with their respective "Other Halves" and babies.  We drove over there to meet up with them.  The weather was so different to Monday - it was cold, drizzly and misty - quite horrible. 

The little ones played on the rides at the "slots", then we went to the Beach - hardened Britishers like us.... we're not afraid of a bit of wind and drizzle... (but it was blooomin' freezing cold!)

The babies had a rest, while E determinedly played in the sand...

J made sand-drawings and K was busy with her camera....

Some serious Sand-castle building was done by all...

and we all went to a cafe to warm up (hot chocolates and cups of tea!)... before heading to the fairground to have some more fun. 

The "grown-ups" went on the Waltzer and Bumper Cars. The Teacup Ride was a reward for E. and A, for being good girls and waiting with Auntie, while their Mummies and Daddies - and Uncle and Cousin - had fun on the Bumper Cars. E. was upset that everyone went on these without her. It took a bit of ingenuity and determination to distract her and stop her screaming the house down (she isn't quite 3 yet)... The Disney Princess Teacup was a very useful distraction!

So, we had a lovely time together, in spite of it being about ten degrees (Celsius) below the normal temperature for August!

Wednesday 24th August - A Day at the Beach

We walked along the harbour wall...  This is the view across the saltmarsh and back towards Wells.  It just feels like being "home"... sigh...

We lazed about...

while DS buried himself in the sand...

...and satisfied his boyish soul, by digging a large hole, just for fun...

..before going off for a long wander with his dad, down to the sea...

This is why we come here!

Talking of "houses"... A Beach Hut very like this one was for sale in the window of the local Estate Agents... Three Guesses how much it would cost.... £10k? £15k? £30k?

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Study this closely... it's the bottom corner of the Estate Agent's details in the window... !!!! Breathtaking!
If you fancy your own tiny piece of on-the-beach real-estate, at Wells in North Norfolk, you need a healthy £60-£75k in your bank account!

Thursday 25th August - Just Pottering About...

We had another walk around the town and harbour area.  Did a bit of shopping, spent some time relaxing at the hostel, as it rained for a while...

In the evening, we went down to the harbour and J had some fun...

Rhino the Hamster has nothing on J!

Then D got fish and chips for our tea,

which we ate sitting on the seats by the old harbour...

...watched by our neighbours..

..followed by another nice evening walk, along the harbour-side, back up the hill through the edge of the town and back to the hostel.

We came home on Friday - just as well, as the weather turned nasty and it poured with rain.  We drove across the Fens with rain lashing down the whole way.  It was a bit of a relief to reach home!

Someone was pleased to see us anyway!

You know, that was only a very short holiday - just three-and-a-half days really, if you allow for the driving each way - but it was the best holiday I've had for a very long time!  We didn't do anything specially extraordinary - just enjoyed ourselves relaxing and going with the flow... and meeting up with the Gang, which was great.  I just had the Best time! 

It was quite a wrench to leave Wells and come home again... it usually is a bit of a struggle, but this time I was really down for several days.  I get "home-sick" for Wells - we have to go there at least once a year.  I would dearly love to live there, if it was practicable (it's not - at least not just now, for so many reasons)...  One day....

* * *

So, that was our short break in Wells.  Since then, we've had a week of jobs, housework, general "stuff" and getting ready for DS' return to school, which is tomorrow. 

I've still been working hard on some course preparation and book commissions:

Example pieces for a Christmas Papercrafts course, for the Frontiers Club.  I hope to teach this in December - the submission went in over the weekend along with three other courses - two sock-creatures and one about making books.

A scrapbook, for a lady in USA, which was made along with a set of 20 page-labels with mounts cut from this same patterned paper. 

The binding is sewn in two colours - red and chocolate linen together.  The edge of each pair of pages is wrapped with both patterned and red paper.

The page-wraps also act as spacers, making more room inside the book, for the customer's scrapbook pages.

Today I completed another book project, which I sent off in this afternoon's post.  It's a Wedding Guest book, which I will post about soon, when the photos are ready.

So, you can see I've had plenty to keep me occupied.  Perhaps, now I have got over my "Wells-sick" spell and settled back at home properly, I will get over my Blogger's Block and find some good stuff to write about!

Hope this post wasn't too photo-heavy.  I know it can be dull, looking at someone's endless "Holiday Snaps" - hopefully this felt like just the "edited highlights"!

I'm gearing myself up for a good session of scrapping soon - I certainly have lots of photos to choose from.  Watch This Space!