Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/83

BOOKBINDING 77 about equal to those of the author ; in the ex- ceptional cases of a very large sale, they are usually considerably greater ; but the authors of such works command more than the usual copyright, so large occasionally as to absorb the greater part of the profits, in which case the publisher is in effect merely the business agent of the author. Still it is true that every purchaser of a book, as a rule, pays more to the paper maker, the printer, and the binder, respectively, than to the author. A success- ful publisher, indeed, usually receives more than a successful author ; for the reason that the former derives his income from scores, hundreds, or thousands of different works, while the latter derives his from only the few which he has himself written. The great ma- jority of individual volumes have only a brief life. Of those printed more than 20 years ago probably not one in five now exists. The others, by steps more or less rapid, have found their way to the flames or the waste basket, and thence to the paper mill, whence their material substance reappears in the shape of paper or bookbinders' boards. BOOKBINDING, the art by which the material parts of a book are connected for convenience in use and protection from injury. Its antiquity is coeval with the art of composing books, for from whatever materials ancient books were made wood, slate, horn, plates of lead or copper, the leaves or bark of trees the neces- sity arose of uniting the several parts together for more ready reference as well as their bet- ter preservation. The art probably first con- sisted in fastening together sheets of wood or metal by means of hinges. Afterward, when the more pliable substances papyrus and parch- ment were substituted, the sheets were fasten- ed together at the edges and fixed at one end to a scroll round which they were rolled. The bookbinder then as now prepared the volume, made the staff, affixed the bosses and the title, and embellished the outside as his own or his patron's taste might suggest. Dibdin, on the authority of Trotzius, an ancient scribe, asserts that Phillatius Vfts the discoverer of a substance for making the sheets adhere together, and that the Athenians erected a statue in his honor. He also says, on the authority of Vos- sius, that King Attalus of Pergamus first or- dered the squaring of books, and that this gave rise to the folding into twos and fours, or folios and quartos ; and after the folding, gathering, and glueing of the book, covers of board, vel- lum, or leather naturally followed. Bookbind- ing involves considerable mechanical skill and knowledge of decorative art ; for from its com- mencement it has gone beyond the mere ne- cessities of utility, often to heights of notable extravagance. In respect of expense the limits have never been defined, ostentatious display having at times superseded the binder proper by the goldsmith and lapidary. Thus St. Jerome exclaims : " Your books are covered with precious stones, and Christ died naked before the gate of his temple." Jewels and precious metals, the finest stuffs and the most gorgeous colors, united to give a material value, frequently without any elegance of design or chasteness of taste. All great public collec- tions show with pride some of these rare and venerable bindings, decorated with gold and in- laid with precious stones, cameos, or antique ivories. The cathedral of Milan contains in its treasury the covering of a book of a date prior to the 12th century, 14 inches long and 12 inches wide, profusely covered with incrusted enamel, mounted and ornamented with pol- ished but uncut precious stones of various colors. Skelton's description, though purely fanciful, will convey an idea of what was in his time ac- ceptable as the perfection of book decoration : With that of the boke losende were the claspls: The margent was illumynid all with golden rallies And byse, enpicturid with gressoppes and waspis, With butterflyis and fresshe pecoke taylis, Enflorid with flowris and slymy snaylis ; Enuyuid picturis well towchid and quikly; It wolde haue made a man hole that had be ryght sekely, To beholde how it was garnyschyd and bounde, Encouordc ouer with golde of tisseu fyne ; The claspis and bullyons were worth a thouaande pounde; With balassis and charbnncles the borders did shyne; With merum musicum every other lyne Was wrytin. This mode of decoration, however, was the work of goldsmiths, enamellers, &c., and quite foreign to the bookbinder's art. In specimens of oriental binding brought home by the cru- saders, European workmen found models for the dyeing, stamping, and gilding of leather, which did much to advance the art. A marked change in the character of binding and its decora- tion took place as books began to multiply by the invention of printing. To such patrons as Grolier, De Thou, and Maioli, of the six- teenth century, binders are indebted for those chaste and elegant designs which form their best examples at the present day. Since that period many styles have sprung into exist- ence which have each their admirers, the Harleian, Montagu, Roxburghe, &c. In pur own times bookbinding has wonderfully im- proved in style, design, and cheapness. France, England, and America have each character- istically contributed toward this improvement, while Germany, where printing was invented, has lagged behind. France has excelled in her taste and finish, England in solidity and strength without sacrifice of flexibility, and America by the invention and use of machi- nery vastly increasing the speed of pro- duction, a single bindery in New York being capable of producing 10,000 bound books a day. The introduction of cloth binding is an important feature in the progress of the art. The number of modern publications and the extent of the editions necessitated a style both economical and rapid in its production. To Mr. Pickering, the London publisher, and Mr. Leighton, the binder, belongs the credit of its introduction about 40 years ago. The paper label was its first and only ornament,