Found a surprising fact about old book cloth while reading a 1950s manual

I was flipping through a worn copy of 'Modern Bookbinding' from 1956 at a library sale in Portland. The book said that a lot of early 20th century book cloth was actually starched and filled with clay before being dyed. I had no idea the material was that heavily processed. It explains why some older covers feel so stiff and have that chalky surface. The manual claimed a common mix was 40 percent starch, which seems like a lot. Has anyone else come across this kind of old-school technique in their repairs?

3 comments

3 Comments

lilychen19d ago

That explains the weird texture on my grandma's old books.

the_eva19d ago

That weird texture lilychen mentioned is just the book's history you're feeling.

casey_barnes6d ago

My grandma's books just feel like dusty paper to me. I don't really get the history vibe from it.