Nowadays many books are produced with a ‘perfect’ binding where
the pages are stuck to the spine and invariably split open as soon as any
pressure is applied. They are still the common book shape we are all familiar
with but they are very different to books printed before 1801. Until the early
nineteenth century bindings were all made by hand so each one is unique.
Books were produced by printing on a large sheet of paper
and then folding, cutting and sewing the sheets to make the familiar book
shape. The size of the book depends on
how many folds are made, so for a quarto the page is folded four times and for
an octavo eight times, and so on. The text block that has now been created
needs something to protect it and keep it clean and the best and most efficient
way of doing this is to provide a rigid board front and back covered with a
material such as leather. You end up
with a space that can be decorated in any way you want.
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| Sewing structure of a binding |
This picture shows a book which has lost its spine showing
the sewing structure. You can see the different gatherings of pages laid next
to each other. The large thick cord is what is holding the boards on and
providing a stable mount for the pages to be sewn onto.
There are many different sorts of bindings and fine bindings
actually only represent a tiny proportion of those surviving, but their beauty
and craftsmanship mean that they never fail to delight. There have been many
wonderful binders through the ages some known only through their distinctive
work such as the ‘Centre Rectangle Binder’, or the ‘Small Carnation Binder’ but
there are other names that we can identify.
This is an
early binding designed by Dante Gabriel Rossetti. It was for a book of his
sister Christina’s poems.
Rossetti was
a poet, painter, and illustrator among many
other talents. His work with its clean pure lines influenced the generation
that came after him including artists such as William Morris. Rossetti’s art
was also characterised by his love of all things medieval and this binding is a
good example of that. The book is bound
in smooth green cloth and has then been gilded, the design pressed into the
surface with hot tools with gold leaf between the tool and the leather. The
design wraps round the spine so is best seen when the book is open. The lines
coming out from the spine top and bottom suggest ornate hinges and the small
gold circles could represent the nail heads that would have held book clasps or
furniture on a medieval binding. The design was developed over several months
in 1865-1866. Rossetti had also done the design for Christina’s first book of
poetry, Goblin Market, and this is similar in style with the small gold circles,
although the lines for that book were straight not gently curved as in this
binding.
The second named binding is from the beginning of the 20th century.
Sangorski & Sutcliffe were early 20th century bookbinders famous for using precious stones and metals in their extravagant bindings. One of their most famous creations was on a copy of the Omar Khayyam and was known as the Great Omar. It was a beautiful binding featuring golden peacocks with jewelled tails but sadly Great Omar went down with the Titanic and has never been recovered. A second copy was made but was then destroyed during the Blitz in World War Two. Undaunted, a third copy was produced and, to date, this resides safely in the British Library.
Although, at first sight, this seems one of
their less ornate bindings, the design, fashioned by
inlaying different coloured leathers, creates a real sense of movement among
the rose stems.
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| Sangorski and Sutcliffe binding for The Hind and The Panther by Dryden |
It is interesting to speculate as to why this style of binding
was chosen for the book. The tortuous thorny rose stems ending in the tight red
rosebuds might be a metaphor for the struggle Dryden had to undergo, hiding his
true religious beliefs until he was able to openly convert under James II. The
use of roses as a symbol of achievement and completion is well established.
After having battled with the long thorny stems, the toiler is rewarded with
the beauty and the fragrance of the flowers. The rosebud represents beauty and
purity and the rose leaves denote hope. However the binding was put on over 200 years
after the book's first publication so perhaps the owner just liked the design!
These and many other examples of fine binding can be found in
the display cases along the Harry Fairhurst corridor in the University of York
library. The exhibition will be in place
until the end of April 2014. For more information please contact Sarah Griffin,
Special Collections Librarian at sarah.griffin@york.ac.uk
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This post was written by Sarah Griffin, Special Collections Librarian at the University of York.
