The techniques that bind us!

The sewing structure of a book is mostly invisible and, unlike a decorative cover or marble endpaper, is rarely noticed or admired.  However, it is the keystone upon which the rest of the binding is made.  Choose an inappropriate style, materials or tension and the lifespan of the book will be greatly shortened.  This blog will describe some of the sewing techniques that have been used throughout the history of bookbinding.

The purpose of sewing is to join sections or quires of folded paper together to form the textblock.  Historically in binderies, women did the ‘forwarding’: folding and collating the paper and sewing the textblock and endbands, whilst the men covered and ‘finished’ the book.

The standard equipment required is shown in these images.  Wooden sewing frames hold the sewing supports or slips.  These could be made from leather, parchment, linen cord or cloth tape and are held in place with the sewing keys.  The frame is positioned at an angle so that the dominant hand can hold the needle at the front of the section, whilst the other hand is positioned behind the frame in the middle of the section in order to receive the needle and pass it through the next hole.

Kettle Stitch

The sewing is threaded along the inside of the sections, exiting through pre-made holes to wind around the sewing supports, and when exiting the final hole a kettle stitch is created.  This stitch sees the needle hooked under the thread of the previous section before moving up into the next section, eventually securing all the sections together.

Stab Sewing

Stab sewing is one of the earliest types of sewing and doesn’t require supports, instead the thread is stabbed through the gathered sheets of paper.  This technique was used in the earliest codices in the 2nd century and is still used in decorative forms, such as this model of a Japanese binding.  It can also be used in modern bindings where the textblock is made up of single sheets of paper without folds to sew through.  Small sections are stab, ‘whip stitched’ or ‘oversewn’ together and then these sections can be sewn onto tape sewing supports.  The downside of this style is that the thread prevents the book from fully opening.

Coptic Sewing/unsupported sewing

Coptic sewing was used widely throughout the 3rd to the 11th centuries.   There are no sewing supports but the sewing begins and ends on the board, incorporating them into the sewing structure.  Coptic bindings also have the earliest form of endbands that continue onto the boards, providing extra strength and support.  This is a loose sewing that allows the textblock to open fully.

Raised Thong and Cord or ‘flexible’ sewing

The strongest and most durable type of sewing, originally thongs of leather were used but these were replaced around the 11^th century with cord.  Single or double cords are used, depending on the size of the book and weight of the boards.  The thread is carried around each cord in the direction of sewing.  This strong but flexible sewing helps keep the form of the book, and when covered in leather creates raised bands that are used to decorative effect when gold tooling is applied.

Recessed cord sewing

Here the cord is recessed into the textblock by sawing channels into the paper spine.  It was first used in late 16th century for cheap retail bindings as books could be sewn far quicker, making them cheaper and more abundant.  These bindings can be less durable however as the sawing damages the textblock and the cord is thinner and can break more easily.

Two on

Two sections are sewn on simultaneously, with the thread passing between the sections at the sewing supports. This method saves time and ultimately money but is only half as strong.   The first and last two sections however were always sewn individually to improve strength and durability.

Tape Sewing

Sewing onto tapes rather than cords was first used in the second half of the 19^th century for case bindings.  For these volumes the cover is made separately to the textblock by covering boards and a spine piece with bookcloth which is then attached at the end, rather than attaching the boards to the textblock and then covering the volume.  It is both a strong and fast style of sewing.

 

Although not an exhaustive list of sewing structures, these are the main techniques used by bookbinders throughout history.  It took skill and practice to sew a book accurately and efficiently with the correct tension, all the knitters and crochet-ers out there will identify with this!

As an aside, modern bindings that we purchase today are glued rather than sewn.  Although far cheaper to produce, the downfall can be seen in older bindings where the glue has failed and single pages or whole segments of paper have fallen out of the book as there is no sewing to support it.  Ironically, books that are glued together are known as ‘perfect bindings’.

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