Book Construction – Part 1

Books are constructed in several ways. Many repair materials work best on certain kinds of paper or in specific parts of a book. “The right tool for the right job” is an axiom that applies to book binding as well as other fields. Having a few specialized tools and understanding how to use them will save you time and energy. Here are some of the parts of a book you may get very familiar with when you start doing your own book repairs.

Text block – The pages of a book, whether they are sewn or glued together, are called the text block.
Case – The covers of a book are called the case. The case is made of
the front cover, the spine and the back cover.
Signatures – When the text block is sewn, the pages are gathered together in groups; then each group is folded in half. A group of folded pages is called a section or signature and is usually four to eight pieces of paper (four pieces of folded paper equals sixteen numbered pages).Books that are constructed of sewn signatures tend to function best because the pages are securely attached to one another and they open flat. Modern manufacturing techniques enable book manufacturers to create a text block with signatures, cut small notches in the folded edge and insert glue to hold the pages together instead of sewing thread. These books look like they are sewn, but they are not. Open the text block to the center of a signature and look for the thread, if it’s not there, the book is glued.

Text blocks in loose sheets – Text blocks can also be single sheets glued together in a process called adhesive, perfect, or fan binding. In this process, fast drying glue is applied to the spine of the text block. Adhesives that dry very quickly are often brittle and that is why the spine of a book cracks when the book is opened. Once the spine glue is cracked, the pages will begin to fall out. In addition to the problem of brittle glue, there is often very little glue attaching each page to the adjoining pages. When the glue is only in contact with the very thin edge of each sheet of paper, pages can easily separate over time.

Double-Fan-bindingSingle and double fan binding – ln single-fan binding, the pages of the text block are fanned in one direction and glued along that fanned edge. ln this style of binding, a thin line of glue penetrates the inner margin of each page, not just the spine edge.

Double-fan adhesive binding goes another step beyond single-fan
binding. After the pages are fanned in one direction and glued, they are also fanned in the opposite direction and glued along the second fanned edge.
Double-fan binding applies glue on the inner margin of each side of the page, not just on the spine edge or the inner margin of one side of the paper. It is much stronger than single-fan binding.
When professional binders bind a book using double fan binding, they use adhesives that dry slowly and are flexible. In addition, they usually reinforce the spine edge of the adhesive bound text block with cloth and paper so it is stronger and the text block opens flat.
Oversewn text blocks – Before craftsmen began to fan bind books, the most common form of binding was oversewing. In the oversewing process, the folds of the signatures are trimmed off and the pages of the text block are oversewn to one another with a diagonal whip stitch. Since the sewing threads tend to pierce deep into the inner margin, the pages are restricted from turning easily. Oversewing is a strong form of binding, but it is often so strong that over time the pages can break out of the binding as they are forced to turn against the sewing threads. Oversewn books may not be candidates for rebinding since much of the inner margin was trimmed off or damaged by the oversewing threads. Books should not be oversewn unless they are very heavy and have wide gutter margins to accommodate the sewing threads.
Flat back text blocks – Flat back books are a type of binding which has a flat text block spine. The case spine of flat back books is usually a piece of book board covered with book cloth. The spines of flat back text blocks have a tendency to become concave over time. To prevent this, the spine of the text block can be rounded and backed.
Rounded and Backed Text Blocks -Text blocks are rounded and backed to shape the flat spine of a text block into a curved spine with shoulders. RoundingRounding a text block is the process of molding the spine of a text block into an arc of approximately one third of a circle. Rounding takes place after the pages of the text block are attached to one another by sewing or gluing. A light coat of adhesive is applied to the spine which is then worked into shape with light pressure applied with your fingers or a special hammer called a backing hammer.
BackingBacking is the process of shaping a ridge or shoulder on each side of the spine of a text block prior to attaching the spine lining material. Using a backing hammer, the folds of each signature or glued pages are bent over from the center to the left and right until shoulders are formed against which the boards will fit. The width of the shoulders is determined by the thickness of the cover boards. In addition to providing space for the cover boards, backing also distributes the swell caused by the sewing threads or adhesive and helps maintain the round of the text block over time.
Book case construction – Regardless of how the text block is assembled, modern books are usually manufactured in two stages. The text block is constructed in one operation where the pages are attached to one another, the spine covered with a cloth liner, called crash, and a paper spine liner is added over that. The book case, consisting of a front cover, a spine and a back cover, is constructed separately in a second operation and the two parts of the book are attached by gluing the crash and end papers to the case covers. The crash holds the text block into the case while the end papers cover up the crash.

Time for a break – part 2 will follow!

Planning Your Repairs

checklistJust like any activity you don’t do often, book repairs should be planned and your work area prepared before you start.

  • Read the directions for any repair thoroughly before attempting the repair.
  • Make sure the workspace is large enough to work comfortably. Clear away excess objects and have the tools and materials needed close at hand.
  • Think about where the repaired books will dry. Materials that are glued or pasted must dry under weight or the paper will buckle.
  • If the book has several problems, start with the simplest and work toward the most complex. In general the text block is repaired first (torn pages, damaged signatures, etc.) then the cover (rebacking, mending damaged comers, etc.). The last part of the book to be repaired is the attachment of the text block to the cover (the crash and endpapers).
  • Try to group similar types of repairs together. In addition to saving time and materials, repeating the same repair several times is a good way to improve your repair techniques.

PRACTICING REPAIRS
Initially, it’s a good idea to practice each repair either on a book that is not as special as the one you need to repair or on plain paper. Different types of paper and different book structures will react differently to the paste or glue. For instance, shiny, coated paper will not absorb as much moisture as uncoated paper so less paste is used on the latter kind of paper.

Read the explanation and instructions before beginning a repair. Take time to assemble all the tools and materials called for in the instructions. Reread the instructions after practicing a repair two or three times. They will probably be more understandable and some questions that came up during the repair may be answered. Once it is clear why and how a repair works, it is easier to choose a technique to match a particular repair need and not rely on the written instructions.
The materials and techniques used in conservation book repair should not damage books and, if a repair is not successful, it can usually be reversed and repeated.

Which Repair Method Should I Use?

It is important to determine why a book needs repair.

  • Has it been damaged through carelessness or simply through use?
  • Was it manufactured in a way that caused the damage?
  • Has an old repair failed or caused more damage?
  • How have previous repairs hindered the mechanics (the way the book opens and closes, the way the pages turn) of the book?
  • Is the book constructed in signatures (folded pages that can be sewn or glued together)?
  • Is the book constructed in single sheets glued or oversewn together?
  • Is the paper coated and shiny?

All these factors should be considered when choosing to repair a book and deciding what techniques to use.
Examine the volume carefully and determine how it is constructed. Book construction is covered in a separate post on this site to help you get familiar with how a book goes together.
Determine which part of the structure failed so you can use the most appropriate repair technique. Some books were not constructed to be repaired and will never successfully be put back together.torn-book-page

Remember, choosing not to repair a book is not a value judgment about the contents of a book. It is an informed decision on what is best for the long term posterity of your valued possession.

Is My Book Worth Repairing?

To Repair or Not?

Before you rush in and prepare to work on repairing your book, ask yourself a few questions:-

  • Has the book previously been repaired using incorrect or damaging techniques? 
  • Is the book worn beyond mending or rebinding? 
  • Should this book be sent to a specialist?

It can be a difficult decision to not repair a book. However, the urge to save every book is unrealistic because some books cannot be effectively repaired.

I was recently at a family gathering where one of my Dad’s cousins produced the Family Bible from his branch of the family. (Family bibles are probably the book I have had most enquiries about in the past 20 years). I had told this cousin many years ago that the book was beyond effective repair but could be kept in its current state for posterity. Since I saw him last he had taken it to a large bookbinding company (he’s a barrister and has many volumes bound each year). The bookbinders returned the bible to him in a custom made acid free box with the advice that it would not be cost effective to repair the bible. We still enjoyed looking at it during the family gathering and it will keep for many more generations in its special box.

Don’t despair if your book cannot be repaired. Just give it a good storage home (acid free custom made boxes you could make yourself although they are now commercially available in a variety of sizes) and visit it regularly.

I have some instructions for making book boxes here.

Where to Start?

Parts-of-a-BookDo you know the difference between a French groove and an American groove? Well, I’m not talking about dance styles, they are actually parts of a hardback book!

Bookbinding today covers a whole range of activities from craft to fine art. You can bind your own work for pleasure, repair your favourite books, and produce works of art for both commercial trade and competitions.

But how do you learn what all the specialised terms mean when all you want to do is repair a favourite book?

Here are a few basic ones to get you started:

Endpapers – are the first and last few pages of a book;

Flyleaf – a blank page in the front or the back of a book;

Frontispiece – an illustration that faces or immediately precedes the title page of a book;

Full title – the page at the beginning of a volume that indicates the title, author’s or editor’s name, and the publication information, usually the publisher and the place and date of publication.

Signatures – a letter, number, or symbol placed at the bottom of the first page on each sheet of printed pages of a book as a guide to the proper sequence of the sheets in binding;

Quarter binding – an economical covering method in which the spine and part of the sides are covered in one material and a cheaper one is used on the remainder

Foredge -the front edge of the book; so called because originally this edge faced outwards from the shelves and titles were painted, inked or scorched on the leaves (rather than the spine)

French groove – library style book binding suitable for heavy, constant use where where the board is set away from the joint instead of flush to enable thick leather to be used at the hinge

American groove – similar to the French groove but more often used with cloth covers

Kettle stitch – a catch stitch or knot made at the end of each section to join it on to the preceding one

Overcasting – reinforcing a section or joining a number of single sheets together by sewing through the back margin

This gives you a quick reference guide to the terms you’ll see in our instructions here. I have also included definitions in other posts where it is appropriate. There is a full glossary of terms here.