Created in July 2019 by Cynthia O'Neill as part of her grad school internship work at Tate Archives & Special Collections, the Ames Library, Illinois Wesleyan University.

1. Guide to
Historic
European &
American
Bookbindings
Tate Archives & Special Collections
Ames Library
Illinois Wesleyan University
Cynthia O’Neill, Intern
Summer 2019

2. Guide to Historic
European & American Bookbindings
• Books are valued for many reasons,
including their content, printing,
illustrations, and binding. Readers gain
their first impression of a book through it’s
binding. Using a variety of techniques over
the centuries, bookbinders strive to both
protect the text and impress readers and
collectors.
• The Book Arts Collection held at Tate
Archives and Special Collections consists
of volumes selected as examples of the art
of bookbinding, illustrating, and printing
history from the 12th century to the
present. In addition, Special Collections
contains hundreds of additional notable
books. All of these books are on the fourth
floor. Although the books are not available
for checkout, they may be reviewed in the
Archives Reading Room upon request.
Sacratissimi principis…,
KJA1132.2 1482
L’imitation de Jesus-Christ…,
BV4823.A1 1785

3. Guide to Historic
European & American Bookbindings
• This guide will provide an overview of the following:
 Proper care and handling of historic books
 Key terminology of book parts
 Overview of different bookbinding characteristics, 15th
through early 20th centuries
 Key reference sources
• Stylistic trends in bookbinding can extend across several
centuries. Books were often bound or rebound later than the
printing date of the text, which can make precise dating
difficult. In addition, binders rarely identified themselves on
their work. This guide will only note general highlights of
stylistic trends with corresponding items from the collections.
• All collection images are from the holdings of Special Collections
in the Tate Archives and Special Collections department at
Ames Library, Illinois Wesleyan University.
The Blue Flower, PS3117.B65s 1906

4. Proper Care & Handling
of Historic Books
• When visiting Tate Archives and Special Collections,
there are several rules to follow in order to ensure the
collection items will be available for future generations.
 No food or drink is allowed in the Tate Archives and Special
Collections.
 Use only pencils or laptops for note taking. Ink pens are not
permitted.
• It is also recommended that visitors:
 Wash hands prior to examining items. Trace oils and dirt can
cause damage to surfaces.
 Remove any dangling scarves or jewelry. This will prevent
anything from catching on book pages.
 Do not wear gloves. The tactile sensitivity of fingers help
readers judge material fragility and encourages more caution
when turning pages.

5. Proper Care & Handling
of Historic Books
• Additional recommendations for visitors:
 Books will be brought to you, but if you ever take one from a
shelf (this applies to all library books by the way!), do not
pull the book from the top of the spine. Instead, grasp the
book at the middle of the spine and gently pull it towards
you. If the books are crowded on the shelf, gently space out
the books slightly on the shelf first.
 Be sure to carry only a few books at a time – horizontally –
while fully supporting the top and bottom books with your
arms and hands.
 Observe the book prior to opening it. Check to see if the cover
is loose. Use styrofoam-type wedges to support one or both
sides of the covers as you cautiously open it (especially if the
book is heavy or fragile).
 If the spine is tight and resists opening very far, do not force
it. Support the spine and covers with wedges or your hands
and examine the pages gently.

6. Key Terminology for Book Parts
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Parts-of-a-Book.jpg

7. Early History of
Paper & Books
 3200 BCE: Cuneiform writing is used on clay tablets
in ancient Mesopotamia.
 3000 BCE: In Egypt, strips of papyrus are used to
make a writing surface which can be rolled into
scrolls.
 1500 BCE: Bamboo is used as a writing surface in
China.
 200 – 100 BCE: Parchment is used in the
Mediterranean as a writing surface. Parchment is an
animal skin which is worked until it’s a smooth,
flexible, and double-sided writing surface.
 150 BCE – 450 CE: A shift takes place from scrolls to
codices. A codex is a book constructed of sheets of
writing that are stacked and bound by fixing one edge
to a spine and covered with a protective secondary
material.
 100 BCE – 105 CE: Paper invented and refined in
China.
 400 – 1400s CE: Illuminated manuscripts are created
by scribes during the Middle Ages. They are created
on both parchment and vellum. Vellum is a finer
quality of parchment made from calf skin.Illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum, 1275 CE.
Psalter, ND2930.M43

8. Illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum, 1220 CE.
Bible, ND2930.M43
Illuminated manuscript leaf on vellum, 1400 CE.
Book of Hours, ND2930.M43

9. Bookbinding in the Middle
Ages
 Parchment can be quite thick. It also tends to warp.
 Books had to have wood boards (covers) to keep the parchment flat.
 Metal clasps were fixed to the boards to keep the pages pressed
together.
 The book pictured to the left is undated, but it exhibits many
features of early books: heavy wood boards covered in leather and
handwritten, thick parchment pages. This large music book was
used for Catholic church choirs. The book dates to the late 15th or
early 16th centuries. Based on its music notational style, it is
believed to be of Spanish origin (Vendt 2003).
 The leather binding features blind-tooled (impressed) decorations,
including fleur-de-lis and sun stamps around a diamond line
pattern. These types of decorations were created by pressing
heated tools into damp leather. There are also metal bosses
(protruding knobs) on both the upper and lower covers. The book
includes a single illuminated image, which is pictured on the next
slide.
Prima pars dominicalis…,
M2153.2.C38 1500z

10. Above: detail of illuminated letter “N”.
Top right: detail of cover decoration.
Bottom right: two facing pages.
Prima pars dominicalis…, M2153.2.C38 1500z
Book Details

11. Fifteenth Century
 The 15th century witnessed several major developments:
 Johannes Gutenberg developed a moveable, metal-type
printing press in Germany circa 1450, which provided
faster and cheaper text production. Over the next
several decades, such printing presses were established
across Europe.
 Cotton or linen rag paper replaced parchment as the
preferred writing surface. It was also easier to use
with the printing presses.
 Sheets of waste papers are pressed together to form
pasteboards, which replaced wood boards for book
covers. As rag paper is lighter and stays flat easier,
heavy wood boards were no longer necessary.
 These developments increased the number of books
available to the public. The Renaissance period also saw
a corresponding increase in literacy and education.
 The use of blind-tooled leather covers over wood boards
and vellum pages continued through the 1400s and
beyond, especially with religious texts and in certain
geographical areas such as Germany.
1482 book with a blind-tooled leather cover over
wood boards. The text (printed by Anton Koberger
of Nuremberg, Germany) is made of rag paper.
Sacratissimi principis…, KJA1132.2 1482

12. 1482 Book Details
Detail of blind-tooled stamps: rose, fluer-de-lis, acorns,
crowned eagle, dragon/griffin, and flora.
The endbands (for both
structural reinforcement
and decoration) are
made of braided, tawed
skin.
Detail of colophon (statement at end of
book with information about its printing).
Sacratissimi principis…, KJA1132.2 1482

13. Sixteenth Century
 Unlike today, bookbinding was completed separately from printing/publishing. Printers sent
their texts to booksellers, who then placed the texts in simple, temporary vellum or paper
covers. It was intended that the purchaser would take the book to a bookbinder and have it
bound to their own tastes. This did not always happen, and there are many examples of simple
vellum covers on 16th – 18th century texts in the collections.
1517 book with a plain vellum cover (over pasteboard).
The text (printed by Aldine Press) is made of rag paper.
Scenecae [sic] Tragoediae, PA66.A2 1517
1590 book with a limp vellum cover (over paper).
There is hand stitching along the right edge.
Thomae Corraeae De elegia…, PN1389.C67 1590

14. Sixteenth Century
 In addition to individual tool stamps, there were also stamps made on rolls. Bookbinders could
quickly impress a repeated band of images using a roll tool.
1531 book with a blind-tooled leather cover (over pasteboard) featuring use of
a roll tool. The text block is made of rag paper and printed by Jehan Petit, a
printer, publisher, and bookseller in Paris.
Decretu[m] Gratiani…, KBR1362.2 1531
Detail of rolled panel decoration. Title page with Petit’s printer’s mark.

15. Sixteenth Century
Detail of rolled panel decoration on bottom cover in grayscale
with higher contrast. The stamp portrays religious figures.
Title page with Mylij’s printer’s mark.
• A heavily decorated 1592 book with a blind-tooled, tawed pigskin cover (over wood boards)
featuring use of a roll tool and decorative metal clasps. The spine is rounded with three raised
bands (which cover the primary sewing supports). The text block is printed by Arnoldi Mylij of
Cologne, Germany. R. P. Fr. Lodoici Granatensis…, BX2350.65.L68 1592

16. Seventeenth Century
 Bookbinders sought ways to save time and money over the centuries to meet the increased demand
for affordable books. One method in the 16th and 17th centuries was to use discarded waste paper for
book covers, spine linings, or endpapers (the first sheets with one side pasted down onto the cover).
1680 book with a discarded
vellum manuscript for a book
cover (over thin pasteboard).
Epitome historiarum…,
D18.T67 1680
A late 14th or early 15th century book with a
discarded parchment manuscript for a pastedown.
Prima pars dominicalis…, M2153.2.C38 1500z.
1580 book with discarded paper for a spine lining.
Anitii Manlii Severini…, B659.D48 1580
1630 book with a printed
paper for a pastedown.
Maximi Tyrii philosophi…,
B588.A4 L3 1630

17. Seventeenth Century
 Decorative papers were used as cover bindings since the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Often
paper was used in combination with leather or vellum in a half or quarter-binding style.
1616 book with a half binding of vellum (covering
spine and corners) and paper decorated in a marble
pattern. Also features gold tooling on spine and blue
sprinkled text edges.
Rime, et prose…, PQ4630.M158 A15 1616

18. Seventeenth Century
 Gold tooling was introduced to Europe from the Islamic cultures of the Middle East and southern
Mediterranean. This technique flourished in Italy and Spain in the 15th and 16th centuries and
quickly spread throughout Europe and became the preferred decorative technique.
1617 vellum-bound book with a gold-tooled center design. The cover
folds over the fore edge of the text (yapp edge). Vellum was
sometimes used for fine bindings as well as temporary bindings. The
text was printed by Andr. Clouquium of the Netherlands.
Hugonis Grotij Poemata..., PN6110.A2 G76 1617

19. Seventeenth Century
 Text edges were often trimmed and were a prime space for decorative treatments. Gilt edges
were popular from the 16th century on. Guaffered edges (cutting in decorative lines along the
edge) were also popular. Another treatment was gold-tooled designs on the edges of the cover.
1667 miniature leather-bound book
with blind tooling. Despite the plain
cover, the text block edges are gilt and
guaffered. Certamen spirituale….,
BX2349.S369 1667
1686 leather-bound book with
blind-tooled cover. The cover edges
feature gold tooling. C. Plinii
Caecilii…, PA6638.A2 1686

20. Eighteenth Century
 This 1774 book features a blind-tooled and brightly painted
leather cover (over wood boards), gilt and guaffered edges, and
decorative, printed paper pastedown. The endpapers feature the
Hartly family genealogy. The text is a German song book printed
in Marburg, Germany. German-bound religious books often
featured wood boards and metal clasps into the 19th century.
Vollständiges marburger…, BV410.V65 1774

21. Eighteenth Century
 Gold-tooled decoration, especially on the spines, continued to be popular and become more
refined into the 18th century. There was also an increased use of decorative paper for endpapers.
1771 leather-bound book
with simple gold-tooled
cover and heavily
decorated gold-tooled
spine and cover edges.
The marbled-style paper
endpaper decoration was
very popular in the 18th
century. This text was
printed in London.
Fables for the female…,
PR3605.M3 F33 1771

22. Eighteenth Century
 This 1785 book was printed in France. The binding is a red,
straight-grained leather with ornate gold tooling on the
cover, spine, and cover edges. The text edges are gilt, and
the endpapers are marbled paper.
L’imitation de Jesus-Christ…, BV4823.A1 1785

23. Eighteenth Century
 This 1785 book printed in London features a blue/green straight-
grained leather cover and simple gold tooling on cover, spine, and
cover edges. The spine also has a repeated gold, winged-cherub
image. The highlight of the book is a fore-edge painting of
Westminster Abbey, which is only visible when the fore edge is
fanned out.
The whole book of Psalms,
BX5145.S74 1787

24. Eighteenth Century
 Decorative papers continued to be used for cover bindings into the 19th and 20th centuries. In
addition to marbled paper, paste-decorated papers were also popular.
1782 book with a quarter binding of leather (spine
only) and paste paper. Also features gold tooling
on spine. Nouveau voyage…, E163.R65 1782
1790 book with a half binding of
leather and paste paper. The text
block edges are stained red. Briefe
aus Paris…, DC146.C22 1790
1773 book with a plain
publisher’s paper
binding. A new
introduction…maps,
GA103.H37 1773

25. Nineteenth Century
 Bookbinding styles popular in the 18th century continued into the early
19th century. These two examples show the use of matching marbling
decoration on multiple components.
1807 book printed in Philadelphia
with matching marbling on text edge
and endpapers. The Columbiad…,
E120.B255 1807
1847 book printed in Boston with
matching marbling on cover and
endpapers. The estray…,
PR1175.L55 1847

26. Nineteenth Century
 Additional examples of nineteenth-century fine bookbinding decoration include continued use of vellum,
gold tooling, and a leather preparation technique known as tree calf. This design is created by dripping
an acidic compound from the bottom to the top edges. The acid flow creates the image of a tree. This
technique was developed about 1775.
1808 book printed in London with
gold-tooled vellum covers, marbled
endpapers, spattered edges, and a
binder’s label: “Smith, 49 Long Acre.”
The dramatic and poetical works…,
PR3333.B7 1808
1880 book
printed in
Boston with tree
calf leather on
cover and gold-
tooled
decoration.
A dream…,
PR5555.D8 1880

27. Nineteenth Century
 Although fine bookbinding continued, it decreased in the
face of major developments in the book printing and
binding industry during the early-to-mid nineteenth
century.
 Widespread use of machine-made, wood-pulp paper (cheaper,
but more acidic)
 Mechanical bookbinding processes
 Starched cloth bindings
 Creation of permanent bindings by publishers at the
time of printing (also known as publisher’s bindings).
 All of these developments succeeded in increasing
production and decreasing cost for the growing
reading public.
 Styles of cloth publisher’s bindings changed quickly
in response to changing tastes in order to increase
sales.
1840 cloth-bound book with an embossed black
cover. The publisher paid Edgar Allen Poe $50 to
lend his name to the book. Poe also edited the
book and added new content. A conchologist’s
first book…, QL405.P75 1840

28. Nineteenth Century
Left: 1856, Boston. Middle: 1870, New York. Right: 1872, Boston.
Cousin Lottie’s…, PS655.V47 1856 Sketches…, QE35.W729 1870 The turning wheel, PS1356.C574
T875 1872
• Three books with publisher’s cloth covers.

29. Nineteenth Century
Left: 1880, Boston. Middle: 1888, Chicago. Right: 1893, Chicago.
Two young…, PS2129.J78 T85 1880 A sharp…, PS1679.F12 S3 1888 Shepp’s…, T500.C1 S54 1893
• Three books with publisher’s cloth covers. Cover design became more representative of the book’s
content during the nineteenth century.

30. Late Nineteenth & Early Twentieth
Centuries
 Beginning in the 1880s, there was a movement within the decorative and fine arts fields against
industrialism and excessive Victorian ornament. Designers embraced traditional craftsmanship
and created simple forms influenced by medieval and romantic styles. Named the Arts and
Crafts movement, it was influential through the 1920s. Key designers represented in Tate
Special Collection who also operated printing presses were William Morris and Elbert Hubbard.
1893 paper-bound book
printed and sold by
William Morris and his
Kelmscott Press,
Hammersmith, England.
Gothic architecture…,
NA440.M86 1893

31. Late Nineteenth & Early Twentieth
Centuries
1895 paper-bound book printed and sold by William Morris and his Kelmscott Press, Hammersmith,
England. Child Christopher and Goldilind the Fair, PR5079.C5 1895

32. Late Nineteenth & Early Twentieth
Centuries
1907 leather-bound book printed and sold by Elbert
Hubbard at his Roycrofters press, East Aurora, New
York. White hyacinths, PS2042.W46 1907

33. Late Nineteenth & Early Twentieth
Centuries
1912 black leather-bound,
embossed book printed and sold
by Elbert Hubbard at his
Roycrofters press, East Aurora,
New York. Hubbard was born in
Bloomington, IL, in 1856 and
grew up in nearby Hudson. He
and his wife died aboard the RMS
Lusitania when it was sunk by a
German submarine in 1915.
Hollyhocks and Goldenglow,
PS2042.H6 1912

34. Early Twentieth Century
Left: 1904, Cambridge. Middle: 1906, New York. Right: 1911, Boston.
Candle-lightin’…, PS1556.C2 1904 The Blue…, PS3117.B65s 1906 The British Museum…, AM101.B87 S6
1911
• Additional early twentieth century cloth books with publisher’s cloth covers.

35. Early Twentieth Century
Left: ca. 1920s, Chicago, cloth/paper Middle: 1924, Berlin, leather/paper. Right: 1925, Chicago, paper.
Ishmael, PS2892.I84 Der babylonische…, BM499.5.G4 F76 Mother, PS3513.U45 M6 1925
• Additional early twentieth century books with cloth, leather, and paper covers.

36. References
 Bearman, F. A. (1992). Fine and historic bookbindings from the Folger Shakespeare Library.
Washington, D.C.: Folger Shakespeare Library.
 Cambras, J. (2004). The complete book of bookbinding. New York: Lark Books.
 Greenfield, J. (1998). ABC of bookbinding. New York, NY: The Lyons Press.
 Michigan State University Libraries’ Conservation and Preservation. (n.d.). History of binding:
Online exhibit. Retrieved from https://lib.msu.edu/exhibits/historyofbinding/index/
 Miller, J. (2010). Books will speak plain: A handbook for identifying and describing historical
bindings. Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press.
 Princeton University Library’s Special Collections. (n.d.). Hand bookbindings: Plain and simple to
grand and glorious. Retrieved from http://libweb5.princeton.edu/visual_materials/hb/index.html
 University of Pittsburgh Library’s Special Collections. (n.d.). History of books and printing @ PITT
Special Collections. Retrieved from https://pitt.libguides.com/historybooksprinting/home
 University of Rochester’s Rivers Campus Libraries’ Rare Books and Special Collections.
(n.d.).Beauty for commerce: Publisher’s bindings, 1830 – 1910. Retrieved from
https://rbscp.lib.rochester.edu/3343
 University of Washington’s University Libraries’ Digital Collections. (n.d.). Decorated and
decorative paper collection. Retrieved from https://content.lib.washington.edu/dpweb/index.html
 Vendt, D. “Medieval and Renaissance music history.” Ms. on file, Tate Archives & Special
Collections, The Ames Library, Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois.