Bookbinding

LITTLE prefatory remark is required in introducing this small book to the public. The present day is especially noticeable for the number of amateur workers who are found in every department of art and technics. That being so, there is certainly no branch of work better fitted to claim their time and attention than that of Bookbinding. It is of great antiquity, of the utmost utility, and capable of almost any degree of artistic development. Looking back to the birth and early history of literature, we find all the oldest manuscripts, both classical and oriental, were written on sheets of parchment or papyrus, and rolled up when not in use. The bookbinder of those days was simply a maker of circular cabinets or repositories, suitable for containing these rolls; and these cases, when for bibliophiles, were often beautifully ornamented. When and by whom the plan of folding the sheet of parchment or paper into pages, and stitching sheets together at the back, was first introduced, is not exactly known; but at that time, and not till then, the book sprang into existence.