Watched a guy at the Boston bindery last Saturday case-in a book with no mull, just paste and prayer
I was at a small bindery meetup in Boston last Saturday and watched a guy case in a 300 page text block with no mull or super at all, just paste on the spine. Half the room said the hinge will crack within a year, the other half said the paper and cloth wrap was enough and mull is just a crutch. So which is it, is spine lining real structure or just tradition we keep copying?