Found an old bookbinding manual from 1880 at a thrift store last weekend

I picked up a really beat up book at a thrift store in Arlington for three bucks. It turned out to be a handbook for hand bookbinding from the 1880s. What surprised me was that they used animal glue for everything, even the spines, because PVA didn't exist yet. They also sewed every single signature by hand with linen thread, no machines. I tried the animal glue method on a practice book and it smells terrible but holds way tighter than modern stuff. Has anyone else experimented with older binding methods and noticed a difference in durability?

2 comments

2 Comments

gavin_allen481mo ago

Wait they used animal glue for the spine? That sounds like a recipe for disaster honestly. I tried restoring an old Bible once and the spine was so stiff it cracked the first time I opened it. But I guess if they did it for centuries it must have worked somehow. The hand sewing thing is wild too. I have a couple old books from the 1700s and the thread is still holding strong. Modern books I buy fall apart in a year or two if I'm lucky.

wadea531mo ago

The animal glue smell is something else right? I tried it on a journal I was making and my wife made me keep it in the garage for a week. But dang if that spine isn't rock solid now. The hand sewing really does make a difference too, I fixed up an old textbook from the 1920s using the same method and that thing will probably outlast me.