Bookbinding

I first became interested in bookbinding in early 2023. What initially started as a delve into "everyday" writing in the Renaissance and the notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci, I became enamored with the subject of how books themselves were made, and their role in the preservation of human knowledge. This page will be for cataloging my projects as I make them, as well as providing a listing and review of resources I've found that are most useful for others interested in bookbinding specific to the SCA's time period.

Projects

Vigil Book for Master Ffernuail of Caerleon

Mini Medici Ledger

Vigil book for Magistra Adelaide Half Pint

Resources

Projects

Vigil Book for Master Ffernuail of Caerleon

A gift for the elevation of Ffernuail of Caerleon to the Order of Defense. The goal was to approximate one of the notebooks carried by Leonardo da Vinci, which are simple long-stitch bindings with a wrap-around leather cover and more rustic pages that have yellowed with age. Due to a time constraint, I started from a commercial "journal kit" that came fairly close to that design goal. I then modified the cover to have a trapezoidal flap and toggle closure to more closely match the original extant journal, adding a more elaborate decorative knot as the toggle. I then enlisted the help of Meisterin Kolfinna Valravn to inscribe a message inside using Leonardo's style of mirror text.

Mini Medici Ledger

A personal project to make a pocket-sized "day planner" to take with me to SCA events. The design is based on Italian "Stationary Bindings" used extensively by the Medici family. These books are designed to have their paper textblocks swapped out once they are written in, so that the cover can be reused. The cover has the characteristic stitched "overbands" to provide strength to the temporary tackets that hold the pages in. These books came in many different sizes, but mine was designed to be pocket sized and is formatted to accept single signature cut in an "octavo" pattern from a standard US letter page. The print template is my own design and contains things such as an event schedule, site coordinates, quick reference for marshal rules, a copy of my marshal/fighter card, and the oath texts of my guild.

Vigil book for Magistra Adelaide Half Pint

A gift for the elevation of Adelaide Half Pint to the Order of the Laurel. As Adelaide’s persona is from late 14th century France, my design goal was a “girdle book,” smaller books with extended leather covers designed to be hung from the belt or carried in the hand. I made the dimensions on the larger end for this book type since it was going to be written in after binding (traditionally, girdle books were written and illuminated first, then bound later).

This book was made using the so-called “gothic binding” style of the 14th-16th centuries, one of the most challenging types. I restricted myself to unpowered hand tools, using historical style ones when available. Since parchment would have been prohibitively expensive, I used archival cotton fiber paper for its strength, as well as the color and texture being closer to hand-made paper. However, I used real goatskin parchment for hinge reinforcements. The pages and endbands are sewn with linen thread onto hemp cords, and the cover boards are beech wood, as would have been common with French, German, and Italian books of the time. The cover is dyed sheepskin with brass upholstery tacks as corner protectors, and the clasp is bent brass wire secured brass nails.

Sources:

Medieval to Early Modern Manuscripts - Yale University Library - Traveling Scriptorium - 2016
Szirmai, J. A. (1999). The Archeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Ashgate.
Smith, K. A. (1995). Non-Adhesive Binding, Volume III: Exposed Spine Sewings. Keith Smith Books.
Dennis, (2022). The Full Medieval Gothic Binding Series. Four Keys Book Arts.
Kwakkel, Erik (2018). Books Before Print. Arc Humanities Press.

Cutting the signatures

Piercing the sewing stations

The monstrosity I cobbled together to function as a sewing frame.

Sewing the signatures on hemp cords

Trimming the head and tail edges

Sewing the endbands with two colors of linen thread

Finished endbands

Trimming the fore edge

Cutting coverboards

Drilling coverboards

Carving channels for cords

Carving channels for the cords

Cutting vellum for hinge reinforcements

Gluing hinge reinforcements

Attaching the coverboards

Wedging and gluing the cords

Test fitting the sheepskin cover

Gluing the spine to attach the cover

Using string to apply pressure to the spine and form ridges

Tying the Turk's Head knot

Completed clasp made of brass wire

Full view

Resources

Online image databases of extant historical books and bindings

The Walters Ex Libris - Walters Art Museum

Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts in Beinecke Library - Yale University

Folger Bindings Image Collection - Folger Shakespeare Library

Gallica - The digital library of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France

Digital Collections - Munich Digitization Center

Database of Bookbindings - The British Library (currently offline)

International Dunhuang Programme Collection - The British Library

Youtube Channels

DAS Bookbinding (Australia) - Channel Guide

Four Keys Book Arts (Canada)

Other online references

Medieval to Early Modern Manuscripts - Yale University Library - Traveling Scriptorium - 2016

Chinese Bookbinding - International Dunhuang Project (British Library) (Wayback Machine archived link)

Ligaturae - Blog of Manuela Bernardotto-Ethridge, an Italian historical bookbinder and conservator.

Tackets, Buckles, and Overbands: Italian Stationery Bindings of the HBS Medici Family Collection - Katherine Beaty (Harvard University)

Fifteenth-Century Bookbinding Structure in Italy and the Netherlands: A Survey of Manuscripts and Printed Books - Priscilla Anderson (The American Institute for Conservation)

Books about Bookbinding (with my commentary)

Szirmai, J. A. (1999). The Archeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Ashgate.

Considered the definitive work on historical Western bookbinding.
Lots of detail from early Coptic to 16th century "limp" binding, with diagrams and B+W photos.
Primarily an academic text and not necessarily a "how to" work.

Kwakkel, Erik (2018) Books Before Print. Arc Humanities Press.

Specific to earlier books prior to the proliferation of the printing press.
Contains very detailed information and photographs on several less common bindings and document types, such as folded almanacs and accordion bindings in Europe.

Richardson, Brian (1999). Printing, Writers, and Readers in Renaissance Italy. Cambridge University Press.

Specific to printed books during the 15th and 16th century in Italy.
Covers book and paper formats, economics of printing, and culture of writing and literacy.

Foot, Miriam (2004). Eloquent Witnesses: Bookbindings and their History. The Bibliographical Society

Collection of essays by multiple authors. Only a few are relevant to pre-17th century time period:
- "Bookbinding Research - Pitfalls, Possibilities and Needs" by Mirjam M. Foot
- "Bookbindings - Their Depictions, their Owners and their Contents" by Jan Storm van Leeuwen
- "The Interpretation of Bookbinding Structure" by Nicholas Pickwoad
Full review pending.

Pettegree, Andrew (2010). The Book in the Renaissance. Yale University Press

Full review pending.

Foot, Mirjam (2006) Bookbinders at work - Their roles and methods. Oak Knoll Press

Full review pending.

Kilgour, Frederick G. (1998) The Evolution of the Book. Oxford University Press

Full review pending.

Smith, K. A. (1990). Non-Adhesive Binding, Volume I: Books without Paste or Glue. keith smith BOOKS.

Extremely useful instruction regarding bookbinding in general, with an emphasis on avoiding specialized equipment.
Includes several kinds of pamphlet stitching, long-stitch, Coptic stitch, and multiple forms of Japanese binding.
Mostly an art/craft book; historical content is minimal and no references are provided.

Smith, K. A. (1995). Non-Adhesive Binding, Volume II: 1- 2- & 3-Section Sewings. keith smith BOOKS.

Less useful than other volumes. Mostly consists of modern artistic pamphlet and long-stitch variations.

Smith, K. A. (1995). Non-Adhesive Binding, Volume III: Exposed Spine Sewings. keith smith BOOKS.

Provides how-to on Western European "supported" sewings, though without outer covers.
Detailed instruction and illustration on how to sew on cords is some of the best I've seen.

Smith, E. K. (2007). How to Make Books. Potter Craft.

Simple instructions on East Asian "accordion" and stab-stitch binding, as well as pamphlet stitching, chapbooks, long-stitch binding, and Coptic binding.
Mostly an art/craft book.

Brassington, William Salt. (1894) A History of the Art of Bookbinding: With Some Account of the Books of the Ancients. Elliot Stock.

Public Domain. Available at https://archive.org/details/historyofartofbo00bras
One of the oldest works on the history of the subject.
Mostly academic and focuses on cover decoration.
Some terminology is different from later works due to the lack of standardization.

Diehl, E., & Kennedy, P. E. (1946). Bookbinding : its background and technique. Rinehart & Company.

Long commentary on historical books, but mostly instruction on modern techniques and styles. Uses some dated terminology that is no longer in use in bookbinding.

Books I read that were not as useful

NOTE: There is nothing wrong with these books. Their content is simply too far outside the scope of pre-1600 bookbinding.

Little Book of Book Making (Charlotte Rivers, Esther K. Smith)
Craft Bookbinding (Linda Orriss)
Bookbinding: A step-by-step guide (Kathy Abbott)
Bookbinding Basics (Paola Rosati)
Hand Bookbinding (Aldren A. Watson)
Book Art Studio Handbook (Stacie Dolin, Amy Lapidow)
The Handmade Book (Angela James)
The Art and Craft of Handmade Books (Shereen LaPlantz)

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