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B
Sheepskin
Box
Bradel
C
Section
Cellulose
Shagreen
Edge
Square
Headcap
Collation
Headband
Endpaper
Inner cover
Textblock
Raised cord sewing
Covering
D
Half binding
Half cloth
Spine
E
Emboitage
Backing
Epair
F
Watermark
G
Gardes
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Feminine noun. Flexible and smooth sheepskin which is little durable. It exists in natural colors, marbled, multicoloured...
Masculine noun. Calfskin prepared according to a process which gives it a smooth and waterproof appearance. In the 20th century, the box was often used to cover luxury bindings.
Masculine noun. Named after a bookbinder who lived during the french Revolution. This kind of work is usually tape sewn and backed. This process enables an easy opening since the tapes are based on the outer spine.
Refers to each unit of leaves gather in sequential order.
Masculine noun. Regular grain goatskin.
Edge of the board.
Part of a board which is longer at the head, bottom and foredge part.
The very top edge of the spine.
Headcaps are very fragile surfaces because often used to grab a book. They might need some restorations.
Used in descriptive bibliography as the term which describes the non-binding portion of the book, verifying the proper sequence and completeness of pages & their gatherings.
Mecanic headband which covers the haed and bottom of a book.
Paper pasted on the inner cover.
Inside of the board.
Part of the binding realised since the sewing until the covering.
Also called "sunken cord sewing". The main method used for skin or cloth binding.
Raised cord sewing gives solidity even if it makes hard the opening of a book since the cord is at the bottom of each section.
Operation which consists in covering the textblock with its definitive "skin" (leather, cloth or paper).
Book covered with cloth on the spine, on quarter of the board, and a strip (since the 30's) or some tips (before the 30's).
Binding covered with leather only on the back of the book, on specific parts of boards (next to hinges), and strips or tips. Example : half shagreen.
"Full leather" means that the binding is entirely covered with leather (example : Full morocco).
Part of a book's cover, visible when the book is on a shelf.
Ouvrage à dos plat ou légèrement arrondi, parfois endossé. Les cartons et la carte à dos sont collés à plat sur le matériau de couvrure. On ménage un espace vide entre la carte et les cartons pour l'articulation. La couverture est ensuite collée au bloc livre par les gardes.
Masculine noun. Shaping the spine of a book block to form a shoulder on its front and back.
Paper structure.
A faint design made in some paper during manufacture, visible when held against the light, identifying the maker.
Paper found at the beginning and the end of a book. There're different kind of endpapers such as "white endpapers", added before the sewing phase, or "coloured endpapers" pasted after the covering.
Feminine noun. The part of a book that faces inward when the book is shelved.
Weight of a sheet of paper expressed in grams per square metre.
Masculine noun. Goatskin with a pinhead grain pattern, used for luxury bindings.
Hinge part which enables to open and close the book.
Process of in-laying or on-laying small pieces of leather of various colours to form patterns. This technique is also called "Mosaic Style Bookbinding".
Horizontal raised bands on the spine, usually of a leather binding.
Paper decorated with a multi-colored design or pattern; often used for end papers or for paper covered boards.
A type of white leather, most commonly made from calfskin that has been treated, but not tanned, and used for bindings. Vellum paper was used for the first time in the mid 18th century. It's also called wolve paper.
Type of paper with a ribbed texture (laid lines) caused by the manufacturing process. In the 19th century, the use of laid paper decreased and was largely supplanted by wove paper.
Masculine noun. Animal skin, especially sheep or goat, prepared as a surface for writing or for use as a binding material. Those skins were used for medieval manuscripts. Skins of stillborn animals suit for high quality works.
Inlay of leather adhered to the spine (or back) of a book and impressed with the title. Also called "label".
Operations of putting the book on the covers and all other work, after the sewing of the sheets, that is needed to prepare the book for the finisher.
The covers of a hard bound book; they're usually covered with cloth or leather; and when covered with paper, the covers are properly referred to as "boards".
Bindings named "simplified" are actually made with boards covered in addition to the rest of the cover.
Book which is entirely covered with leather (ex : full shagreen).
Book which is entirely covered with cloth.
The bottom part of the book.
Front cover of a book or a page.
Small binding with an exposed sewing and a cover either flexible or hard. The sewing draws a more or less complicated pattern.
This is the case of most traditional bindings. Sewing supports (slips or tapes) are longer than the spine and are so fixed to the boards, passing through holes or slots.
Material lined with paper. Widely used for common bindings.
Toile dont la trame est plus grossière que le relon, plus solide elle est utilisée pour les gros volumes notamment.
The sewn band attached to the head or tail of a book.
The back, or reverse side of a leaf; the left-hand page of an open book.
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