The San Francisco call., 1895-11-03
STYLE IN BOOKBINDING.
Fashions of the Past and Happy In.
ventions of the
Present.
BY KATHERINE DURHAM.

| 1ne history OF DOOkDlnQlng IS as old as
bookmaking. In the boards placed, for
their protection and preservation, on each
side of the two-leaved wax tablets upon
which records of the public acts of consuls
and magistrates of Rome were inscribed, il
| had its beginning.
From that now distant day the office of
bookbindings has ever remained the same,
but IN points of kind and style they have
been adjusted from time to time to the
books they encased. keeping pace with the
changes in materials, strong and heavy
when books were bulky, and required
weight to keep the leaves of parchment
fiat elaborate and costly when they were
made more beautiful in handiwork, and
neat but inexpensive with the coming OF
the modern paper-books, given to the pub
lie by the thousands.
| Those of parchment were the first true
books, and the heavy boards on their sides
were covered with leather or parchment.
Metal clasps and hooks kept the boards
shut, and nails were usually inserted, the
round and projecting heads of which pre-.
served the fat surfaces of the bindings.
The high price of manuscripts through.
| out the middle ages due to the scarcity of
| parchment and the time and labor neces-
OF ornament which came to be used to
decorate their outsides. The thick wooden
boards were enriched with ivories, precious
| stones, engraved gems, plaques of gold and
! silver, both engraved and filigreed, and the
| finest enamels. AS the books were not
often moved about, the weight Of their
covers was no objection. These elaborate
bindings were the work of monks and were
| NV J1rrht hxr = IL
to dedicate to the church, or by choice of
the monks themselves as cases worthy of
the devotional works which they inclosed,
and often placed in homage on the high
altar itself.
The number of such bindings which
have come down to our time is small, for
they were too valuable to escape the cupid.
ity of rulers and the fury of reformers. In
England the spoliation of the monasteries
under Henry VIII and the wholesale de-
struction under Edward VI of all vestiges
of the old learning wrought irremediable
havoc among the fine libraries, and such
bindings as might till then have escaped
were swept away under the act ito strip
off and pay into the Kings treasury all
| gold and silver found on Popish books of
devotion" The destruction was not so
wholesale in other parts of Europe. A few
examples are still to be found in the more
important libraries and in few priyate
collections.
With the multiplication of books by
printing and the use of linen paper in
their manufacture, more simple and less
costly bindings were made. They were of
plain leather, decorated with blind tooling
or fooled in gold. Their weight also was
lessened by the substitution of mill boards
for the hardwood sides.
Expressed in these new materials, the
art of bookbinding reached its height, in
the point of design, in France in the six.
teenth century, and in its technical quail
ties in England in the latter half of the
last century. England has since continued
to hold the palm.
With the growth of mechanical aids In
| decoration taste declined. There came
the temptation to lavish decoration with.
out regard to balance of parts or appro-
priateness of design. The best bindings
of to-day are limitations or reproductions
of those of earlier periods.
| America has never produced bindings
equal to the best of English manufacture,
but the machinery of American invention
for making cloth covers is that in use in
| England to-day.
The designs used for the decoration Of
covers have been various: Panels filed
with interiaced lines, geometrical figures,
men seated on horseback, fabulous animals
OF various descriptions, chain work,
| straight lines and segments of circles,
fooled with dies OF great number, the
beauty of which consisted in their indi.
vidual delicacy and arrangement. Mosaics
| or inlaid leather were also used in France.
! and in Italy originated the canoes. These
| were placed as center piece in relief,
taken from antique gems and medals, and
were made OF sort Of laquered paste put
| on the leather. The cameo edition of one
of the American publishers is in imitation
of this style.
| Leather has sometimes given place to
other materials, as damask, velvet, satin
and embroidery, and there are the half
bindings, with covers and backs of leather
and the sides of marbled paper.
Some OF the most beautiful books which
have survived the vicissitudes of time are
those once made for Henry II. The de-
signs are bold and fine and unfettered by
any tradition. Their main characteristics
OF reserve and simplicity are their chief
excellencies. Little else than his own en-
| blems and the arms of France are upon
|
| them.
| Some of the minor details of bookbind.
| ing are the decoration of the backs, in har-
mony with the Sides and of the edges in
various manners and styles. This latter is
much neglected now. The old modes were
nearly always gilt edges, some plain and
some gliding on marbled, painted, colored
| edges and landscapes.
Fine bindings are still made by hand.
| but cloth covers are wholly of machine
| work, decorated and lettered complete be-
fore being placed on the books. Strips Of
cloth are left loose on the back of machine
made books. to be pasted to the inside Of
the covers, which are finished with the
lining papers extended into first fly-leaves.
Accomplished craftsmanship leaves
| nothing to be desired in the execution,
but happy invention must be employed, OF
never again will bookbinding become Q