New bindings

Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of separate or bifoliate sheets of paper or other material. When talking about bookbinding as a craft, hardbound books are most common. Any sewn book can be pulled apart and rebound into a hardbound book by adding a case. Cases are often cardboard and sometimes wooden rectangles adhered to paper or leather and formed around the text block. There are different methods of sewing, such as stab sewing. A traditional method which uses sashes allows the book to open flat and not break the spine.

Books can be bound in many different materials. Some of the more common materials for covers are leather, vellum and cloth. A common way to bind a book is as a halfbound book, which means that the spine and the corners of the cover are covered with leather or cloth, while the rest is covered with paper (normally marbled or otherwise decorated). When only the spine is covered with cloth or leather and the rest of the cover is covered in paper, the book is called quarterbound. Full binding is when the books are completely bound with leather, vellum or cloth and inside endpapers are plane, marbled, or decorated otherwise.