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Glossary

A Vocabulary for Description of Historical Bookbinding Structure

The terms can be considered abstractly.

The needed approach can be almost wordless in the layered sets of structural features. Sewing, for example, should encompass macro types such as unsupported and supported sewing, which would then be described in terms of sewing patterns which are described in terms of sewing stitches. The stitch should be defined and then it can be dissected into its motions. Likewise the bookbinding itself should be defined leading to structural types such as case construction, laced case construction, laced construction which are further defined by components such as textblock and cover which have subsets of their own. Terms of orientation to the symmetry of the codex should be defined. The helper terms primary, secondary, tertiary should not be neglected, but utilized everywhere in text sewing, endbanding, lining, tacketing and covering.

The terms can be considered as parts of speech.

NOUNS

1.the bookbinding [codex format structure]

1.1 leaf attachment structure

1.11 structure without sewing

1.111 (folded)

1.112 (adhered)

1.12 sewn structure (see also stitch, sewing pattern, sewing construction)

1.121 through fold structure

1.1211 (unsupported)

1.1212 (supported)

1.122 through page structure

1.2 binding construction (see also textblock, cover)

1.21 (laced) construction

1.22 (laced case) construction

1.23 (cased) construction

1.25 (double) construction

VERBS

the binding process [sequence of fabrication]

I. text forwarding

1. gathering & folding

2. sewing

3. text shaping and lining (i.e. backing)

4. text trimming

II. cover forwarding

III. cover to text attaching or covering (i.e. drawn on boards/leather)

IV. finishing

V. book action

1. fold action

2. stitch action

a. motion (i.e. exit/continue on/ reverse/ drop down/ pickup/ friction slip/re-enter)

b. tension

3. binding action

a. opening - page turning & fanning, drape of spread, mobility of back, transmission of leverage of board,

b. closing - transmission of leverage of board, compression and lock of text, shelving

ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS

relational - primary, secondary, tertiary

orientational - upper, lower/beginning,end/perimeter

tactile - docile/cranky, rigid/pliant, punky/glazed

conditional - all the re’s (i.e. restored, rehinged, rebound, etc.)

The terms can be alphabetized.

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ACTION, book - mobility of book in use. there are opening and closing motions and transmissions of the reader’s leverage and manipulations and behaviors of materials, and bonded and mechanical connections. ADHESIVE - bonding agent; glue derived from animal product, paste derived from vegetable starch, synthetic adhesive from polymer resin.

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BACK - contrarily, the bound folds of a text. this term is assigned to keep the noun back and the verb to back associated as well as to have a term that will serve as counterpart to foredge. another established use of back is to indicate the spine of the cover and spine is then used to indicate the bound folds of the text. this is the Szirmai assignment of the terms. the two terms spine and back (or even backbone) are ambiguous but they cannot both be supplanted by either single term. the same applies to joint and hinge. BACK CORNER - a slight angle cut-away of some material at the head and tail of the gutter edge of the board to accommodate trun-in thickness and ease joint flexing. three basic cuts are; 1. from the outside which is the conventional modern cut, 2. from the inside which is an unconventional but useful cut and 3. stright trough the board which is the historical cut. bookBINDING - the whole mechanical anatomy of a book. BINDING, adhesive - a binding of single leaves without sewing using a synthetic adhesive consolidation of the back. BINDING, wrapper construction - the "paperback" construction with back lining extended as covering. even medieval long stitch bindings can fit this type where a simple vellum wrapper is sewn, not adhered, to the text. BINDING, case construction - a structure with a cover-to-text attachment set back from the folds of the endpapers. this connection is always adhesive, with the bond at the seat of the shoulders. case binding structure always incorporates a spine free of the text back and usually employs a fabrication sequence in which the cover is made separately from the text. production case binding emerged in the eighteenth century German work with a lapped component paper cover. BINDING, laced construction - cover-to-text attachment at the folds of the endpapers. this connection is either an adhesive bond or an adhesive and mechanical attachment when sewing supports or sewing threads are laced into the boards. the spine can either be free of the text back or bonded tight to it. laced construction often employs a fabrication sequence in which the cover and text are constructed together, as a cohesive structure prior to covering. BINDING, laced case construction - a structure with cover-to-text attachments at both the seat of the shoulder and at the folds of the endpapers (as typified by one piece limp vellum and paper bindings from Italy). or a case construction binding with sewing supports lacing through the cover initially at the seat of the shoulder. BINDING, double construction - compound cover structures. laced laced is a double covered binding which has not been seen for a millennium. The famous "furrow" in the edges of traditional Greek, Armenian and Eastern Church bindings may echo such an ancestral type with two separate covers. Such binding is known from Coptic examples. These double boards were set and sewn flush to the folds of the endpapers. laced cased is a double covered binding like the modern sewn boards type with its releasing wrapper over a laced binding. it is also possible to include the stationers’ spring back ledger in this type...especially in terms of book action. BINDING, initial - first binding of a given textblock which is frequently associated with the period of its production BOARD - support component of the cover of the binding in plane with the pages. BOARD, simple - board composed of a single piece of wood, hide. BOARD, composite - board of laminated or folded paper sheets(pasteboard), layered paper (mill board), pasted papyrus sheets (cartonnage), collaged (of playing cards, velum scrap, etc.) BOARD, upper/lower - with all components, upper refers to component adjoining text beginning and lower adjoining text ending. BOND - adhesive joint

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CAP - shaped turn-in at the head and tail of the cover CLASP - foredge closure devise to provide text compression. components include catch, hook, hook strap or ream and strap plate.

CODEX - our familiar form of book with leaves and covers bound along one edge. CORNER MITER - closure of the overing material at the foredge corners of the cover. these miters may be mechanical and/or adhesive closed and the basic types are simple miter, tab, interlocking, and overlapping. COVER - protective exterior of a binding. COVER, lapped construction - in which a spine wrapper extends over shoulders and gutter margins of the text with boards bonded to the lapping flanges of the wrapper. COVER, one piece construction - from a single cover sheet. COVER, separate component - cover with joint span provided by covering material COVER to text attachment - an expression used when describing the structural features and actions of the connection of the cover to the textblock. COVER hover - dome effect produced by counteracting turn-in folds in one piece cover COVERING - exterior material applied over boards of the cover. helper terms of primary, secondary, tertiary distinguish multiple coverings. CREASE - a fold induced by pressure, not by scoring. CREASE, joint - crease of a one piece cover at the position of the seat of the shoulder. CREASE, spine - crease of a one piece cover at the position of the fold of the endpaper. CRENELATION - left and right ripple patterns as viewed in the gutter margins produced by the fold crushing of left and right hammer swings.

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DRAW - bowing of the plane of a laminate due to unequal contraction of layers. bowing concave to the text is positive draw, bowing convex to the text is negative draw. DRAWN-ON boards - the lacings to the boards cinched and secured and the back shaped naturally through the transmission of leverage as the boards are closed. not backed. DRAWN-ON leather - covering of a laced construction binding with boards opened at a right angle to the pages, the turn-in secured and the covering material shaped and tightened across the back by transmission of leverage as the boards are closed. tenting across the sewing supports is prevented by subsequent tieing up which, in essence, produces a drawn-on effect from head to tail.

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ENDBAND - a support positioned at the head and tail of the text back. the endband may be adhered or tied down. wrapping sewing and braiding of the core may be sequential using helper terms primary secondary, tertiary. historical endbands can mechanically tie gathering to gathering, boards to textblock and covering to binding. ENDPAPER - folded blank sheets supplied and attached at the beginning and end of a text.

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FLOW - graceful articulation of a binding structure in motion FLUTE - void or unadhered area in the back lining parallel to folds FOLD - the fundamental, sheet modifying structural feature of the codex format. the fold is fundamental following from the free leaf/cartonnage composite from the invention of the codex. FOLD set - breaking and burnishing after creasing. FOLD jut - strengthening effect of the structural rib effect of the fold in a sheet. FOLD yawn - fold reopening tendency. FOLIO - a sheet folded once; the two leaf, four page unit of a book.

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GATHERING - folded section of a printed book. GLUE - a protein adhesive made from bones and hides. GUARD - reinforcement mend for folds of sections. GUARD, concertina - continuously pleated sheet wrapping the folds of the sections GUARD, free - a stub tipped to an endpaper, plate or other free leaf which is then wrapped around or tipped to an adjoining component. GUARD, meeting - folded stubs, or continuous concertina, with sections sewn to the mountain, not into the valley, creases. GUTTER - text margin at binding edge.

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HINGE - internal cover to text reinforcement, a cloth guard, tipped and wrapped around the endpaper and bonded to the inside of the cover. HOLLOW - cover to text construction with the spine free of the back. HOLLOW, tube - spine attached to back on a paper sleeve folded exactly at the folds of the endpapers producing laced construction action. HOLLOW, natural - spine attached to the back at position set away from the fold of the endpaper producing a cased construction action.

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INLAY - a lining of paper or card used to reinforce the spine of the cover. INTACT - unrepaired or unmodified since the period of production. (regardless of condition)

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JOINT - external flexing position in the cover. JOINT, tight - associated with hammer backed work having a right angle shoulder and little or no set back of the gutter edge of the board. JOINT, shoulder seated - in drawn on, laced construction binding the shoulder and gutter edge of the board seat together at the same angle and in close contact.

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KNUCKLING - smashing of the folds of the text during hammer backing or cap setting as viewed at the head or tail of the textblock. KERF - cuts across back folds made with a back or fret saw.

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LACING PATH - the circuit of the supports or sewing threads through the boards. these may be over, under or through ("tunnel") lacings. LEATHER - book covering material obtained from the skin of an animal which is tanned to make it pliant and stable. LEAVES - the text sheets each of which provides two pages. LINING, back - paper, cloth or vellum bonded over the text back and carried under the board. linings can be applied sequentially and referred to as primary, secondary tertiary. LINING, paneled - lining applied to the back in sections between sewing stations. LINING, slotted - lining the full length of the back with slots cut to accommodate sewing supports.

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MECHANICAL - non-adhesive connection.

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NON-ADHESIVE - mechanical attachment. NON-ADHESIVE, binding - 1. a binding structure in which the folds of the text are not consolidated with adhesive. 2. a binding structure so designed and constructed that no adhesive is used.

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OPENING - cross section profile of a fully opened book, or the motions characteristic of a binding in the hands of a reader. OPENING, board - interior features and motions of the cover opening. OPENING, preferential - a position within the text at which pages tend to open due to damaged lining or sewing.

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QUIRE - a term for gathering associated with manuscript books.

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REBINDING - new binding constructed on the surviving leaves of a book. REPAIR - reinforcement or replacement where original components and materials failed. REPAIR, recase - libranians use this to indicate save the original cover and binders use it to indicate provide new cover! REPAIR, reconstruction - repair which follows the original construction but does not necessarily reuse original components. REPAIR, rehinging - reattaching the board to a tight joint binding. REPAIR, recovering - laced construction repair supplying new boards and leather covering. REPAIR, recasing - case construction repair of a previously sewn text. REPAIR, rebacking - repair of broken joints and damaged spine using new material carried over the back and put down under the original board covering with original spine fragments reattached. REPAIR, restoration - disassembly and reassembly to provide an elaborate repair intended to reproduce the original appearance of a bookbinding. reconstruction and reattachment of original fragments.

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SCORE - a straight cut to induce a fold. SEAT OF THE SHOULDER - the position of the bite of a press against the gutter of a sewn text when it is recessed as fully into the press as the thread swelling will permit. SEWING - sequence of stitches that secures separate folios into gatherings and separate gatherings into a text. sewings may be sequential using helper terms, primary, secondary, tertiary SEWING, abbreviated - a pattern of stitches extending between outermost stations which serves to attach more than a single gathering, skipping stations in each. SEWING, pattern - the arrangement of stitches visible in the opened center fold of a gathering or visible across the back of the text over supports or in chains. the pattern inside the fold can be periodic with variations of in-line, staggered or erratic - or - the pattern can be continuous with variations of simple, multiple, skip-station or head to tail. the pattern across the back can be horizontal as with long stitch work - or - the pattern can be vertical with variations of a chain, ladder, chevron, Z's, or X's. (see sewing diagram) SEWING, side - sewing through the page plane at the gutter margin. SEWING station - position across the back where thread passes through the folds of gatherings. historical types include needle pierced, awl pierced, knife slit, knife kerfed (V cut), saw kerfed. SEWING, supported/unsupported - either gatherings are connected at some or all sewing stations by the thread passing around or through a cords, thongs, straps, tapes or tacket patches, - or - the gatherings are connected together by thread alone. SEWING SUPPORTS - cords; single/double, thongs of leather or skin; single/slit, straps of vellum, fabric tapesare sewn across the text back with slips of excess length provided for lacing into boards. SEWN BOARDS - a family of binding structures known from the earliest codex binding and still prevalent, characterized by equitable leaf attachment with chains of stitches, covers attached as outermost leaves and flush trimming of cover and text. SEQUENCE of fabrication - the documented or evident series of steps required to produce a given binding. SHAPING - hammerless rounding and/or backing of the textblock as may be accomplished by pressing and/or drawing on boards. SHOT - a gathering out of register with the contour of the back. can be the result of uneven sewing tension. SHOULDER - gutter margin of outer gatherings deflected outward at an angle to the page plane to accommodate swelling and provide a seat for boards or case construction joints. SHOULDER, seat of the - the position of the bite of the lying press against a sewn textblock when the textblock is recessed as fully into the press as swelling will permit. SPINE - portion of the cover positioned over the text back. SQUARE - excess dimension of the cover over the text block. STAY - a reinforcement of vellum or leather seated in the inner fold to strengthen the stitch stations. STITCH - a portion of the thread visible, in the fold or on the text back, extending from the exit of a sewing station to the next re-entry of a sewing station. STITCH continue-on - re-enters a sewing station in the same gathering. STITCH change-over - re-enters a station in a different gathering. STITCH motion - to the outside is toward the head or tail, to the inside is toward the middle of the back, forward is continuing in the direction of a progression of stitches, reverse is turning in reverse of a progression, drop is motion downward from the starting point, climb is motion upward, step is motion diagonally, link is motion of one stitch passing under another, loop is motion of a stitch circling around a support, and lap is motion of a stitch passing over a support. (see sewing diagram) STITCH packed - supported sewing pattern with more than a single wrap of a sewing support per each gathering. STITCHING, whip - hand sewing through the gutter margin, entering through the page plane and exiting through the text back. STUB - a paper extension tipped to the gutter edge of a plate, leaf or map which provides a margin for binding. SWELLING - the thickness added to the back of the text by accumulation of sewing threads, stubs and guards. SWING - the gutter margin provided for flexibility in bound leaves.

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TEXTBLOCK - the whole assembly of gatherings of a given book both before and after binding. this departs from Szirmai with textblock before binding and bookblock thereafter. TOUCH/MATCH - an interlocking butt between tags of two torn edges. TRANSMITTED BOARD LEVERAGE - controlled swing of the cover boards. propensity of drawn-on board binding is to transmit opening and closing motions of the boards through the text which is a natural characteristic of the mobility of such structures. THROW UP - the contour of the back of the text as a book is laid opened. this may be minimal if the back is inflexible or mounted on a tube hollow or sharp if the back is especially plaint. TRIMMING - edge treatment to cut all leaves flush. edges may be plowed or knife shaved. edges may be trimmed (by gathering) before or after sewing TUBE - a paper sleeve bonded to the text back to produce a laced construction cover to text attachment. (see HOLLOW)

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YAPP - deliberately creased and deflected foredge square. YAPPING - usage formed wrapping of the squares of flexible covers under the tail of the text .

Taxonomy of bookbinding structures: uncased - cased - laced - laced case - laced laced - laced cased (refer to BINDING, constructions)