The modern hardback book is a very standardized product. In terms of its binding, it's usually cloth-covered boards in an octavo (or smaller ) format for most trade fiction and nonfiction. Oversized productions, like art and photography books, may get special treatment.
Anyone collecting older books for their private library, though, is likely to run across bindings--and binding terms--with which they may be unfamiliar. We have explored some of these terms in past posts. Today, we look at a few more such terms with the help of ILAB's very useful online glossary.
One such term is blind-stamped or blind-tooled. This refers to an impression that is made to the binding of a book that leaves no color, only an impression:
Another term that may be encountered is compartments. Also known as paneling, this refers to "[r]uled lines forming a square border or frame on a binding, which is done in gilt or blind:"
A term that one may encounter that applies specifically to the edges of a an older book's binding is dentelle. This is a "lace-like pattern applied to the edges of the cover of the inside border of a book bound in leather:"
Finally, an older book that has an embossed leather binding refers simply to "leather which has been printed with a raised design." This is the opposite of a blind-stamped design, which is pressed into the leather. You will feel the raised design if you run your fingers along an embossed leather binding:
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