Binding Websites
At the beginning of the semester we had a really good class on the history of bookbinding, and since then I’ve been looking around for related websites to share here. Binding, like typecasting, is an aspect of book history that’s difficult to grasp based solely on written descriptions and photos. And unfortunately, a lot of websites provide nice images but assume previous knowledge on the part of the reader. The Princeton University Firestone Library, however, has an excellent online exhibit, Hand Bookbindings: Plain and Simple to Grand and Glorious. After an introductory set of images it begins with The Early Codex and Coptic Sewing and continues with detailed discussions of changes in binding practice over time, the importance of specific book structures, and international binding trends. The site features lots of wonderful pictures of antique books and has a great user interface that allows easy magnification of any part of the image.
More binding sites:
- The International Dunhuang Project has a fascinating, in-depth page on the history of Chinese bookbinding with lots of good pictures and instructive diagrams.
- The University of Iowa has an extensive gallery of educational binding models.
- From the University of Alabama, a very colorful exhibit called The Art of Books: Publisher’s Bindings Online, 1815-1930. Be sure to check out the galleries.
- The British Library has a searchable database of bindings, along with a fun gallery that displays 25 random images.
- Featured in one of my previous posts, a 1961 film on the profession of bookbinding.
Please feel free to share if you know of any other good binding sites!
- Endymion: A poetic romance, by John Keats. London: Taylor and Hessey, 1818. Princeton University, Firestone Library.