Marguerite learned how to bind books from her aunt, the anchoress, as part of her early apprenticeship. Her aunt regularly bound books for a small local monastery (from the Middle ages through the beginning of the Twentieth century bookbinding was one of the few occupations where women could compete successfully with men) (Marks 20).
The basic building block of the book is the quire. The quire is made up of a single sheet of parchment (or vellum - modernly, paper) folded one or more times to make the desire size of page. The quires are then stitched together (see figures 3.1-3*not all figures will be published. Due to the nature of the internet and modern copyright laws, I will not be loading any photo where there might be a question of ownership).
The use of the sewing frame (figure 3.4) was first documented in a 12th century manuscript (Figure 3.5). As this was my first sewing frame I used materials I already owned, the result wasn’t pretty, but it is very functional (figure 3.6)
When the quires are sewn together, its time to attach the wooden covers. My first attempt was a disaster. I used 1/4 inch poplar boards and carved channels as were done in figure 3.7
The boards split when I placed the nails. For my second attempt I used 1/4” oak boards and only carved the channel, not using the slit. (Figure 3.8). This turned out much more satisfactorily.
Another change I made from “standard procedure” was the use of silk sewing thread for binding the pages. Marguerite would have used linen thread, but I couldn’t find a linen thread that I liked, so I opted to use silk rather than cotton due to both the tensile strength and the fact that cotton thread wouldn’t have been available .
After the wood covers are attached using the supporting cords that the quires are tied to, then the whole is covered with leather or cloth (see figure 3.9). I glued on the leather cover using Elmer’s Wood Glue. In the 12th century I would likely have used hide glue, but having made it once before, I elected not to go through the smell and mess - the only place I had to make it was my kitchen and my family strongly objected to me using it to make hide glue (again).
I also wasn’t happy with the leather I used for my covering as it was too thick (again a choice of economy, as the only thin toolable leather I could find required me to purchase a much larger piece than I need at the cost of over $75). In order to get is to fold over the wood I had to skiv the fold. It still didn’t work really well, and the edges are ugly. When I do this again I will wait until I can get a thinner leather.
The endleaf was created by gluing down the first page of the manuscript (intentionally left blank (figures 3.13 & 3.14), Again I used Elmer’s Wood Glue.
The decoration on the book is done by tooling with modern tooling stamps. I felt this to be a reasonable substitution for the blind stamping done in the 12th century (figure 3.15) this is defined by Marks as “a method of decoration whereby a heated binding tool makes a plain impression on the leather or cloth (gold leaf or colors are not used).” Since I didn’t wish to court injury by heating up my tooling stamps and trying to (safely) “brand” my book cover, I elected to use the tooling stamps in the manner they were manufactured for. I’m not very satisfied with the depth of the tooling impression (I suspect that the thinness of the leather is to blame) and I am going to explore a way to safely use the blind tooling method.
The final step was to use a very sharp blade (I used an exacto knife) and cut the leaves apart at the folds.
The basic building block of the book is the quire. The quire is made up of a single sheet of parchment (or vellum - modernly, paper) folded one or more times to make the desire size of page. The quires are then stitched together (see figures 3.1-3*not all figures will be published. Due to the nature of the internet and modern copyright laws, I will not be loading any photo where there might be a question of ownership).
The use of the sewing frame (figure 3.4) was first documented in a 12th century manuscript (Figure 3.5). As this was my first sewing frame I used materials I already owned, the result wasn’t pretty, but it is very functional (figure 3.6)
When the quires are sewn together, its time to attach the wooden covers. My first attempt was a disaster. I used 1/4 inch poplar boards and carved channels as were done in figure 3.7
The boards split when I placed the nails. For my second attempt I used 1/4” oak boards and only carved the channel, not using the slit. (Figure 3.8). This turned out much more satisfactorily.
Another change I made from “standard procedure” was the use of silk sewing thread for binding the pages. Marguerite would have used linen thread, but I couldn’t find a linen thread that I liked, so I opted to use silk rather than cotton due to both the tensile strength and the fact that cotton thread wouldn’t have been available .
After the wood covers are attached using the supporting cords that the quires are tied to, then the whole is covered with leather or cloth (see figure 3.9). I glued on the leather cover using Elmer’s Wood Glue. In the 12th century I would likely have used hide glue, but having made it once before, I elected not to go through the smell and mess - the only place I had to make it was my kitchen and my family strongly objected to me using it to make hide glue (again).
I also wasn’t happy with the leather I used for my covering as it was too thick (again a choice of economy, as the only thin toolable leather I could find required me to purchase a much larger piece than I need at the cost of over $75). In order to get is to fold over the wood I had to skiv the fold. It still didn’t work really well, and the edges are ugly. When I do this again I will wait until I can get a thinner leather.
The endleaf was created by gluing down the first page of the manuscript (intentionally left blank (figures 3.13 & 3.14), Again I used Elmer’s Wood Glue.
The decoration on the book is done by tooling with modern tooling stamps. I felt this to be a reasonable substitution for the blind stamping done in the 12th century (figure 3.15) this is defined by Marks as “a method of decoration whereby a heated binding tool makes a plain impression on the leather or cloth (gold leaf or colors are not used).” Since I didn’t wish to court injury by heating up my tooling stamps and trying to (safely) “brand” my book cover, I elected to use the tooling stamps in the manner they were manufactured for. I’m not very satisfied with the depth of the tooling impression (I suspect that the thinness of the leather is to blame) and I am going to explore a way to safely use the blind tooling method.
The final step was to use a very sharp blade (I used an exacto knife) and cut the leaves apart at the folds.
Bibliography:
Cox, Christine. Bookbinding. 15 06 2012 <http://volcanoarts.com/muse/departments/bookbinding/index.htm>.
Dept of Medeival Studies-Central European University. Medeival Manuscript Manual. 15 06 2012 <http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/bookbinding.html>.
Gullick, Michael. "A Romanesque Blind-Stamped Binding at the Queen's College, Oxford." Pearson, David. 'For the Love of the Binding': Studies in Bookbinding History Presented to Mirjam Foot. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, 2000. 1-8.
Hulan, Nancy. "Beginning Bookbinding." A&S Handout. 2007.
Lhotka, Edward R. The ABC of Leather Bookbinding. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, 2000.
Marks, P. J. M. The British Library Guide to Bookbinding: History and Techniques. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Schultz, Helen. Bookbinding. 15 June 2012 <http://helen.schultz.home.comcast.net/~helen.schultz/Bookbinding.html>.
Szirmai, J.A. The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999.
verch Aneirin, Gwerfyl. Eleventh/Twelfth-Century German Book. 15 June 2012 <www.aneira.org/index.htm>.
Cox, Christine. Bookbinding. 15 06 2012 <http://volcanoarts.com/muse/departments/bookbinding/index.htm>.
Dept of Medeival Studies-Central European University. Medeival Manuscript Manual. 15 06 2012 <http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/bookbinding.html>.
Gullick, Michael. "A Romanesque Blind-Stamped Binding at the Queen's College, Oxford." Pearson, David. 'For the Love of the Binding': Studies in Bookbinding History Presented to Mirjam Foot. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press & The British Library, 2000. 1-8.
Hulan, Nancy. "Beginning Bookbinding." A&S Handout. 2007.
Lhotka, Edward R. The ABC of Leather Bookbinding. New Castle: Oak Knoll Press, 2000.
Marks, P. J. M. The British Library Guide to Bookbinding: History and Techniques. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1998.
Schultz, Helen. Bookbinding. 15 June 2012 <http://helen.schultz.home.comcast.net/~helen.schultz/Bookbinding.html>.
Szirmai, J.A. The Archaeology of Medieval Bookbinding. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company, 1999.
verch Aneirin, Gwerfyl. Eleventh/Twelfth-Century German Book. 15 June 2012 <www.aneira.org/index.htm>.