BOOKBINDING, the art of connecting together in a durable and convenient manner the several parts of a book. The craft of the bookbinder is older than that of the printer. As noticed in the preceding article, the Romans had their bibliopegi for doing up their books in rolls; and during the middle ages, the binding of hooks in a square form was executed by certain orders of monks. As the first style of typography was an- imitation of the penmanship employed in Bibles and Missals, so was the binding of the first printed books only fl copy of what had been usual in doing up volumes of manuscript. But as printing greatly multiplied books, binding got out of the hands of the monks and other ingenious men who had hitherto carried it on, and assumed the character of a widely dispersed mechanical art, which, like other useful arts, has gone on improving till the present day It says little for the taste or tact of the Germans, that they, the inventors of printing, should have long since been left behind, not alone as regards typography, but binding, and everything else connected with the preparation of books. The French have exerted their fine artistic taste in binding, and take the lead in this branch of art among continental nations. In the French language, the term relienr, used for bookbinder, has oddly enough the same root as religion (religo, to bind again). To the English belongs the merit of carrying the art to a high degree of perfection; for no bookbinding in the world excels that of London in solidity, elasticity, and eleganee—the three great requisites of a well-bound book—which have been arrived at, not less from skill in manipulation, than the excellence of tools, and the prices which are ungrudgingly paid by wealthy book-fanciers. Reaching this advanced stage, bookbinding forms a regular craft, distinct from printing and bookselling. though in country towns it is sometimes united with these professions. Properly conducted, it is divided into the three departments of preparing, forwarding, and finishing; but in these there are many subdivisions of labor, a few of which may be referred to.
On coming from the press, sheets are first dried by being hung on poles for a length of time, and then smoothed by pressure, singly, between glazed mill-boards in a powerful hydraulic press. They are next collated or arranged in distinct books in quires, in which form they are delivered to the publisher. If, however, for immediate sale in "cloth
boards," the sheets are transferred in masses from the printer to the binder, and treated as follows: The first operation is to fold the sheets, by means of a small instrument called a folder. The object is to fold down the different pages so as to fall on one another; and on the perfect accuracy with which this is performed depends the proper binding of the boOk. Though machines for folding have been invented, and for some kinds of work prove satisfactory, much of this operation is still performed by hand; usually the work IS done by girls. After being folded, the sheets of the book are gathered and collated according to the "signatures," A, B, etc., which are printed at the bottom of the first page of each sheet. The books so made up and completed, are now pressed to a proper solidity, by being placed in quantities in a hydraulic press. The next. process is to saw indentations in the back of the book, preparatory to sewing. If only a few volumes are to be sawed, the operation is executed with a tenon saw; when, however, there are large numbers, the books are placed on a machine with revolving saws, which instantaneously effect all the indentations. The books are next sewed on a frame, each sheet being attached by a thread to cords across the back. The sewing, though sometimes done by a machine, is chiefly executed by girls. On being removed from the sewing-frame, the book receives its "waste papers," which are pasted to the back on each side. The book is now " trimmed," by being cut on the edges by a knife-apparatus. In some instances, this is effected by the plough-machine on the screw lying bench; in others, the hooks are piled on a machine, beneath a broad knife, which descends like a guillotine, and a large number are cut with amazing expedition. The books are next glued on the back, to impart a certain degree of firmness. After this, they are "hacked" by means of a machine, which imparts a certain roundness to the back, and at the same time gives a seat for the boards. The book, with a slip of canvas pasted on the back, is now ready for receiving the boards, which are previously cut in large quantities by a machine.