The previous chapter discussed the major parts of a bookbinding process. These are all the things that lie at the surface. If you unearth more and go deeper, you would realize that bookbinding is a lot more than just cutting and pasting things together. You have to sew the hinges, prepare the mull and even decorate the cover for a nicer appearance.
By now, you should have had all the material and equipment ready with you. The next step is to start with the fundamental techniques of bookbinding. In the simplest of handbook binding procedures, there are six main phases, which are demonstrated in figures 12 to 17.
There are lots of different bookbinding supplies, materials, tools and equipment. This post presents a review of many of these.
The first ever books in the world were the Egyptian papyrus rolls, which were composed of several columns of ancient writing scripts. The first of these manuscripts goes back as far as the 25th BC, and until the Christian era, they remained quite popular. However, during this period, the paper or the book industry underwent a transformation, and parchment started replacing the Egyptian papyrus rolls (more on Egyptian Papyrus Rolls on Wikipedia). Writing on parchments was arranged in parallel columns, and vertical lines were used to separate one column from another. This particular pattern gave rise to the idea of cutting the parchments into flat panels, which comprised of either three or four columns. Later on, this form evolved into the books we see today.
Bookbinding: A Step-by-Step Guide is a very well laid out, easy to follow book to help get started in bookbinding. The author, Kathy Abbott has been in the bookbinding industry for well over 20 years and has a huge amount of experience which is clear from reading her latest book, Bookbinding: A Step-by-Step Guide.
The instructions within this book are clear, concise and well worded; this coupled with the easy to follow illustrations, take the reader by the hand through the art of bookbinding.
