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EVOLUTION OF BOOK STRUCTURE AND BOOK HISTORY TIMELINE*
The BOOK is a vehicle for storage and transmittal of information. Its modern form is a result of radical changes that
happened to it since the invention of writing. Many different things can be called a book without being a Codex the
form we are most familiar with today.
Antiquity
The preferred format for writing in pre-Christian era was
a roll. Egyptian papyrus roll dates back to the 26
th

century BC. It was being used in Greece by the 5
th

century BC and later was embraced by the Romans.
Leather, bark, metal, textiles and, finally, paper have all
been used to make book rolls. Wood, stone, clay, ivory,
tanned leather, proto-parchment, fragments of pottery
(ostraca) were also used as writing substrates.
Other forerunners of a modern book were wooden or
ivory tablets with multiple leaves joined together by cord,
metal rings or leather ties. Notebooks of papyrus and
parchment were also in common use by the Greeks and
Romans of the late antiquity. They all represent a
precursor to the format of the codex.
Codex (block of wood lat.) is a collection of single
leaves or folded sections of writing support material
(papyrus, parchment, paper) bound together in some sort
of a cover. It was a Roman invention that partially
replaced the scroll. The first written mention of Codex
dates back to the 1
st
century AD by Martial. By the 5
th

century the codex became the primary writing medium
for general use. Technically any modern paperback is a
codex. The term, however, is used only for manuscripts
from Late Antiquity through the middle Ages. The
earliest known codices came from Coptic Egypt.
Nag Hammadi Codi c e s
The most important single discovery of early Coptic
bindings, to date, is the group of single-quire codices known as Nag Hammadi codices of Gnostic Gospels, found in
1945. They are believed to date from the mid fourth century AD. These large books were found in an urn buried in the
cave near the town of Nag Hammadi. There were 12 leather-bound books and one unbound tractate.
Mul t i - qui re Copt i c Bi ndi ngs
The earliest survivors date back to the 4
th
century AD. This particular binding style dates to the period from the 4
th
to
the 6
th
centuries AD. It consists of leather spine piece laced into bare wooden covers, completed with wrapping bands
and bone pegs, and glued to the spine of a parchment text sewn through folds.
The Hamul i Bi ndi ngs
Those bindings are thought to be the library of an ancient Coptic monastery, St. Michaels of the Desert. They represent
the largest surviving group of late-Coptic bindings from a single source. It consists of 60 parchment manuscripts, most
retaining their leather covers. They were found in Egypt in the Southern Fayum in 1910. J. Pierpont Morgan purchased
50 of them in 1911 and they now form an important part of the Coptic collection at the Morgan Library.

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The Codex in the West
Until the 12
th
century the book production was a monastic trade. The early books were written in Latin. The structural
difference of European books from that of the Near Eastern bindings has not been explained. By the 8
th
century the
parchment text blocks were generally sewn on supports of leather, plant fiber cord, or vellum, and were laced into
wooden boards (unlike Near Eastern bindings that were sewn unsupported with some type of chain stitch often with
boards bridled on with loops of sewing thread).
There is no direct Islamic influence on the craft of bookbinding in those early times. This influence becomes evident
only in late Renaissance (15
th
century). However, there are a few exceptions. One of them is the 7
th
century Stonyhurst
Gospel the earliest decorated leather binding found in England. The Gospel is believed to be sewn link-stitch
(unsupported sewing structure typical of Coptic bindings) with some sort of looping/bridling type of board attachment.
This binding remains a mystery. Its still intact and in fragile state which makes it impossible to determine its precise
structure. Until further research and new archeological evidence come to light, this little binding could be viewed as a
bridge between Near Eastern and Western binding styles.
Medieval Manuscript Book
In the 12
th
century paper has arrived in Europe from the East. At first it was regarded with suspicion. Eventually, the
realities of the market won and papermaking spread in Europe. With time paper completely replaced parchment. The
first universities in Europe were also born at the turn of the 12
th
century. That increased the demand for books. In the
medieval Western bookbinding tradition, there was never complete uniformity within bookbinding styles. There are,
however, three major categories of the medieval book:
Carol i ngi an
8-12
th
century
200 bindings have been located, the bulk in the collection of the St. Gall Stiftsbibliothek.
Romane s que
12-13
th
century
Got hi c
14-16
th
century
A great number survived. The sewing supports were brought over the top of the beveled spine edge of the board,
dropping through holes drilled through the boards. This lacing creates a curved spine.
Gi rdl e Book
23 survived. 15-16
th
century. It appears often in the paintings. Most of the surviving books are small. Chamois was one
material chosen for a primary or secondary covering, and it acted as a pouch.
Li mp Bi ndi ngs
Cheaper bindings, produced from leather, tawed skin, parchment, and, eventually thick paper. Most common are limp
vellum bindings of the 16
th
century.

1450 to 1800: Radical Changes in Book Structure

The bookbinding practices of the post-medieval period of printing era and the Renaissance are sometimes interpreted as
the beginning of the decline in bookbinding standards. The increasing demand for books was a reason for many
shortcuts in bench practice. Some of the shortcuts resulted in weakened book structure, and the trend would be
considered to have continued through the rest of the hand-bookbinding period. The materials used by bookbinders were
also declining in quality, especially upon entering the machine age. The development of printing text from movable type
finalized a trend that started when book making moved from monastic to secular production.
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SOME BOOKBINDING TERMINOLOGY:
Chemise - a protective covering of fabric or soft leather that wraps over the entire binding.
Colophon a) in old books, an inscription at the beginning or end of a book, often including the printer's name and
details of production; b) in modern books, the publisher's device.
Edge gilding - the application of gold leaf to the edges of the leaves of a book which have been trimmed, sized, primed
with Armenian bole, covered with gold leaf and burnished.
Endbands structural and decorative elements consisting of colored threads entwined tightly round a core of vellum,
leather or cord that are sewn through the sections, filling the gap at the spine between the top or bottom of the section
and the edges of the boards. They thus help to prevent the sections collapsing through the effect of gravity, and also
serve to lessen the damage done when the book is pulled off the shelf by its headcap.
Foredge - the front edge of a book, opposite the spine. So called because this edge originally faced outward from the
shelves and the title was painted, inked or scorched on the edges of the leaves.
Furniture - anything attached to the boards, e.g. clasps, metal corner pieces, bosses.
Head top edge of the text block.
Section folded up sheet of paper.
Sewing stations the position of sewing supports or chain stitching on the spine.
Tail bottom edge of the text block.
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Text-block a collection of sections sewn or
glued together.
Spine the edge of book that is sewn or adhered.
Endpapers blank or decorated leaves preceding
and following the text.
Boards stiff front and back covers.
Bands - the cords or thongs on which the sections
of a book are sewn. If the cords are laid into
grooves so that they lie flush with or slightly below
the surface of the back, they are referred to as
recessed cords. If the cords or thongs are not
recessed, they form ridges across the spine of the
book and are referred to as raised bands.
Squares parts of the boards extending beyond
the text block.
Pastedown a leaf conjoint with another, sewn
with the text block and pasted to the inside of the
board, or a separate piece of paper pasted to the inside
of a board
Turn-in the portion of the covering material folded into the turn-ins inside of the cover.
Vellum calfskin with the hair removed that has been soaked, limed and dried under tension.

SUGGESTED READING:

1. Bosch, Gulnar K. Islamic bindings & bookmaking. Chicago: Oriental Institute, University of Chicago, 1981. -235 p.
2. Gaskell, Philip. A new introduction to bibliography. Winchester, UK: Oak Knoll Press, 1995. 438 p.
3. Greenfield, Jane. ABC of bookbinding. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1998. 180 p.
4. Ikegami, Kojiro. Japanese bookbinding: instructions from a Master Craftsman. New York: Weatherhill, 1986. 148
p.
5. http://www.ligatus.org.uk
6. Middleton, Bernard C. A history of English craft bookbinding technique. 4
th
rev. ed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll
Press, 1996. 372 p.
7. Miller, Julia. Books will speak plain: a handbook for identifying and describing historical bindings. Ann Arbor,
Mich.: The Legacy Press, 2010. 510 p.
8. Needham, Paul. Twelve centuries of bookbindings, 400 1600. New York: Pierpont Morgan Library, 1979. 338
p.
9. Roberts, Colin H., Skeat, T. C. The birth of Codex. London, British Academy, 1983. 96 p.
10. Szirmai, J. A. The archaeology of medieval bookbinding. Burlington, Vt.: Ashgate, 2000. 352 p.
11. Turner, Etic. The typology of the Early Codex. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1977. 212 p.
12. Young, Laura S. Bookbinding & conservation by hand: a working guide. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1995.
273 p.




*This handout is a compilation of various sources, including personal notes from lectures and seminars, attended by
Irina Gorstein (igorstei@gsd.harvard.edu).
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