Books

A brief history of books

The basic form of the book with which we are familiar today has changed very little over centuries. The book remains a gathering of leaves—most commonly of paper—collected together in some way or another, in a three-dimensional, moving structure, with boards front and back to protect the leaves.

While the basic form has varied little, the materials used, the structural elements and the decorations have varied greatly over the centuries and from country to country. The invention of printing and the subsequent explosion in book production have led to further changes and developments.

Place an early book next to a modern paperback. It is obvious immediately that they are very different in appearance and appeal. But the basic form is the same.

This book was printed in 1571. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

This book was printed in 1981. Photograph courtesy of Artlab Australia

From very early times, multiple leaves of documents were collected together in the form of a roll, with the leaves sewn together end to end. This method was used to attach pieces of papyrus together. The roll form survives today, and can be seen in synagogues: the Scrolls of the Law are written on sheets of parchment sewn edge to edge to form a long roll wound onto two wooden battens called Trees of Life.

As vellum was used more widely, its greater flexibility compared to papyrus gave rise to different methods of collecting the individual leaves together. Vellum could be folded—and so the practice of gathering groups of folded sheets and sewing them onto cords or thongs was developed. They were often wrapped in leather for protection.

Once this form of book gained wide usage, bookbinding was invented. The need to protect the leaves of the books and to keep the vellum sheets flat led to the addition of boards. The cords or thongs to which the groups of folded sheets were sewn were then laced into wooden boards. Gradually this developed into the system for binding books which is still used today.

Over the centuries boards have been covered with leather, parchment, vellum, alum tawed or whittawed skin, papers, and more recently, bookcloth. Boards have also been decorated with blind tooling, gold tooling, jewels, various metals, embroidery, beading, inlaid wood and leather, paste papers and marbled papers.

Decorative elements have not been restricted to the boards. The head, tail and foredge of the textblock can be painted, decorated with Armenian bole—a blood-red pigment—with gold leaf, spatter-painted with colours or gauffered. Headbands are decorative as well as functional.

At various times, different countries developed very individual styles of binding and decoration. Experts can identify the production dates and country of origin for many historic books, based solely on their physical attributes.

Over the centuries, the materials and methods of book production changed. However this has not always meant an improvement in quality. The changes are a reflection of the shift from books as rare items available only to certain sections of society to books as mass-produced consumer goods.

Boards made from compressed paper pulp have replaced wooden boards. Case bindings-in which the cover is made separately from the textblock and attached later—have largely replaced the other forms of binding in which the cover is assembled on the book step-by-step.

In the past, all books were individually hand-sewn. This type of work is generally used today for fine bindings only or conservation work. In modern book production, those books which are sewn are machine-sewn. But huge numbers of books are not sewn: they are made up of individual leaves fastened to each other and to the cover by an adhesive. This style of book—familiar to us as the paperback—is a development of the so-called perfect binding introduced in the 19th century. They are far from perfect—with a tendency to fall apart. There are other books, which have been stapled or, as bookbinders say, wire stitched.

Paper quality has deteriorated also. Acidic paper is an ongoing problem, particularly for libraries. Increasing demand for paper products in the 19th century led to many innovations in the papermaking industry, including a shift away from the traditional materials. The use of pulped wood, alum rosin sizing and papermakers' alum, to improve the flow of pulp through the papermaking machines, all contributed to the supply of reasonably cheap, mass-produced papers. These materials are also sources of acids, which attack the paper fibres—making the paper brittle and easily damaged when handled.

There is a wealth of knowledge of the history of bookbinding, and centuries of information about the durability of particular materials. This is important for historians, book collectors, museums, galleries and libraries. But this information is also valuable for book conservators, who can use it to great advantage in the preservation of old and new books alike.