Bookbinding involves two separate aspects: the how and the why. Anyone willing to work at it can learn the how, but the why is equally important.

There are many people, artists in particular, who focus entirely on the book as an object. They often create stunning pieces of art in the form of blank journals. I have tremendous admiration for the art form, but I have always been more interested in bookbinding as a means to complete what I started when I first put words to paper.

There are times when it makes more sense to hand-bind relatively small numbers of books yourself rather than search for a publishing house. Books of poetry are a perfect example. Local histories, local interest fiction or non-fiction, and short stories are all likely to be very hard to place with a mainstream publisher. One caveat: you should not do it to make money, because you won't. The process is too time-consuming to be practical for turning a profit. (I would be delighted to have someone prove me wrong!)

When you turn to hand-binding as a form of self-publishing, you need to plan things out very carefully. The outside needs to reflect the inside. For instance, a book of poetry might lend itself to a tall narrow format where prose would look awkward like that. The choice of fonts can make a huge difference in how you present your work. Take the time to look closely at the books you like best. Notice the font, the margins, the running heads (the repeating name or title at the top of the pages,) the paper, the cover, etc.

Bookbinding is not hard to do, but it is hard to do well. I taught myself using a variety of books. (See the bibliography at the end of the page.) The first books I made were terrible partly because I didn't follow the instructions in the book I was using and partly due to problems with the fabric and adhesive I was using.

I am not one to give up easily so I consulted another book (and then another, and another.) One of the things that I discovered was that there are basically two ways to bind a book. In one, you create the cover separately from the text block and then "case in" the text by pasting the outer pages to the cover. I prefer the second technique where you build the covers on to the text block. That is, you glue a fabric strip (a mull) to the spine of the text block, glue the boards to the mull, glue the fabric to the boards and then paste down the outer pages.

The other thing I discovered was that, while all of the books were in basic agreement, no two books agreed on all the details involved. I took this to mean that I could, and should, find my own way in binding. Some six-hundred books later I guess I've got my technique down.

Home Bookbinding at a Glance

Gather . . .

• Dense, stiff, non-corrugated chipboard
• Paper that won’t bleed through or tear easily
• Strong, light-weight fabric, preferably cotton or linen
• PVA (polyvinyl acetate) adhesive
• Or make wheat or rice starch paste
• Linen or heavy-duty cotton thread, waxed (Dental floss actually works well.)
• LOTS of waxed paper
• Wax paper-covered boards for pressing
• Paper-covered bricks or cinder blocks for weights
• Scissors, razor knife, rulers, brushes, tape, pencils
• Time, in one or two hour segments
• A plan

Print and Collate Pages

• ALWAYS make a mock up first.
• Take sheets of paper twice the width of a finished book page, put five sheets together and fold in half creating a signature.
• Allow for paste-down page, half-title and full-title pages, dedication and copyright.
• Then start numbering.
• Page one is always on the right-hand page.
• Remember to leave space for the gutter, or center-fold when formatting your pages.

Mark and Pierce the Spines . . .

• Stack the folded signatures in the correct order.
• Mark one line (or hole) one inch in from either end, then a pair of holes one third of the way between those two holes, another pair another third of the way.
• Pierce the marked holes with a thick, dull, needle.
• Then sew signatures together and to each other.

Coat the Spines . . .

• Clamp the sewn signatures together to hold them tight.
• Coat the clamped spines with a heavy coating of glue.
• Lay a ribbon along the back for a bookmark. Be sure it comes out at the top and not the bottom!
• Take a piece of muslin an inch or so wider than the thickness of the spine and almost as long called the mull.
• Coat the center of the mull with glue and lay it across the still wet spine (over the bookmark.)
• Allow to dry overnight.

The Boards

• Cut two pieces of board 1/4" taller than the pages and the same width as the pages.
• Cut another piece the same height as the others, but only as wide as the thickness of the spine.
• Glue large boards to the mull allowing about 1/8" between the spine and the board.
• Use waxed paper to protect pages beneath.
• Press under weighted boards overnight.
• (Do NOT glue the narrow piece on.)

Attaching Cloth Cover

• Lay out cloth with spine in the center with ?" or so on either side.
• Glue narrow (spine) board to center.
• Mark where the boards will attach (leave that ?"space on either side of the spine.)
• Glue the front board to one side and the back board to the other, settling the book back against the (unglued)spine.
• Use waxed paper to protect pages
• Glue and turn upper and lower edges to inside of boards.
• Fold corners in and turn final edges in.
• Press under weighted boards overnight.

Paste-down Pages

• Protecting the inner pages with waxed paper,
• Coat the top page with glue.
• Draw the cover over the glued page, hold the corners of the glued page and maneuver them into correct position against the cover. Close the cover and press.
• Flip the cover open to rest on a board the same thickness as the book. Smooth out any wrinkles or air bubbles.
• Repeat with other side.
• Press between weighted boards overnight.

Endpapers and Title Label

• Fold an endpaper in half.
• Coat the top half plus 1/8" of the lower half with glue.
• Carefully position endpaper against inside cover.
• Use a butter knife or letter opener to set the glued fold into the crease.
• Insert waxed paper to protect unattached side.
• Repeat with the back cover.
• Coat the back of your title label with glue and position it on the cover. (Be sure you put it on the front cover.)
• Press under weighted boards for at least two days preferably three days.

Enjoy your new book!

Bibliography

For inexpensive basic instruction:

Lewis, A. W. Basic Bookbinding, Dover Publications, 1957.

Watson, Aldren A. Hand Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction, Dover Publications, 1986.

Johnson, Pauline. Creative Bookbinding, University of Washington Press, 1963. (May be out of print)

For more a broader, more elegant view:

Cambras, Josep. The Complete Book of Bookbinding, Lark Books, 2004.

For fascinating insight into the design process:

Birdsall, Derek. Notes on Book Design, Yale University Press, 2004.

Kaufmann, William. One Book / Five Ways: the Publishing Procedures of Five University Presses, William Kaufmann, Inc., 1977. Try abebooks.com or some other out of print place for this. Five different university presses were given the same manuscript resulting in five very different books.