SOME HAND BOOKBINDING TERMS

GRAIN DIRECTION (Grain) The direction in which most of the fibres in machine made paper lie. Grain direction should be parallel tp the spine of the book.

SIGNATURE (or Section) A number of leaves gathered topgether, folded, and treated as a single binding unit.

BOOKBLOCK (or textblock) A group of signatures which form a book.

SPINE The back or folded edges of a group of signatures, or the part of the cover which protects this area.

ROUNDING AND BACKING - Rounding: The formation of the convex spine.

Backing: The formation of the supporting shoulders.

FORE-EDGE The front edge of the book, opposite the spine

ENDPAPER A folded sheet of paper or additional blank signature acting as a protection for the bookblock and as an attachment of bookblock to cover.

HEADBAND (Endband) Thread woven around an inner core to form a protection at the head and tail of the spine of the book; often now cloth wrapped around a core.

BANDS The ridges across the spine of the book; the supports around which the sections are sewn.

COVER The outer protection for the bookblock.

JOINT - Inner joint (hinge): the inside hinge of the cover made of the fold of the endpaper or of a strip of paper or leather attached to the endpaper.

Outer joint: the point at which the cover boards pivot as the board opens.

SQUARE The portions of the covers of the book which project beyond the edges of the leaves of the bookblock.

HEADCAP Covering leather shaped over the headband of the book.

TURN-IN The part of the covering material that is turned over the edges of the boards from the outside to the inside at the head, tail, and fore-edge of the book.

CASE A book cover that is constructed completely before affixing to a bookblock.

TIPPING The attachment of a leaf to another by means of a narrow strip of adhesive along one edge; mostly used for maps, pates etc.