BOOKBINDER, the workman in a printing house or bindery by whom the printed sheets as they come from the press are folded, stitched or sewed together, covered and made up into their final form as books or pamphlets.
Although originally a handicraft, practically all bookbinding operations to-day are performed by machine. The exceptions are blank book work, repairing damaged books and very small editions of de luxe works. In such cases the work is performed by craftsmen commonly known in the trade as "hand binders," who are perhaps the most skilled workmen in the whole print ing and publishing industry. In the manufacture of a book by hand, the binder receives the sheets folded either by hand or machine. He assembles the sections into complete books and sews them together, using a sewing frame in which the sections are securely held and yet accessible. After being sewn, the books are placed in a vise and given a rounded back with a hammer. Meanwhile, the operation of case making—making the stiff or flexible cover of the book—has been going on. These are built up of board covered with cloth or leather. The ornamentation of the cover with the title of the work, and decoration of gold leaf applied with small heated tools and dies is also part of the binder's work. Having completed the case the binder then "cases in"—makes fast the sewed sections in the cover, either by gluing down the tapes to which the book is sewed, which is customary in heavy or expensive books, or by pasting the end sheets of the first and last sections. Some of the other operations in the finish ing of a book are head banding, marbling, edge guilding and edging. The above includes only the barest outlines of the binder's work. There are dozens of styles of binding such as full, half, quarter, check, flexible and hard, each of which has its own peculiar technique. In modern bookbinding, whether pamphlet or edition, all the above operations are performed by machinery and the average "bookbinder" knows little of hand work. He sets and operates folding, gathering, sewing, stitching, case mak ing and covering machines, trimming and gold stamping machines, and is in fact a highly skilled machine operator. Hand work, such as tipping and feeding machines, hand-gathering and padding, is largely unskilled and is performed by low-paid bindery girls.
(R. T. W.)