Aunt Book
Expresses Righteous Indignation
In Which Aunt Book Waxes Wroth
Concerning Bindings
Aunt Book has often wondered: If technology is
so spiffy, then why is it that the quality of book bindings is so much
worse now than it has been in years gone by?
In the past, books were quite literally sewn
together. In some cases, each "signature," or group of pages, was
folded and sewn at the fold onto a cloth strip; each signature was sewn
next to the previous one until all the pages were together. In
other cases (generally with thinner books), pages were stitched through
from front page to back. In the oldest books, strings were passed
through the pages from front to back and tied into a loop over the
spine; the strings caused the characteristic raised bands on the spines
of old leather-bound books.
The sewn pages were then put between
boards (originally of wood, later of very sturdy cardboard) which were
covered either with leather or with cloth. The hinges (where the
inside of the cover met the pages at the spine) were often reinforced
with cloth, as well, before the endpapers were glued into place.
The cloth was strong and flexible. If any pages did come loose,
it was relatively easy to sew them back into place.
The covers were often works of
art: stamped with patterns or pictures in gold and other colors,
embossed, decorated with pasted-on pictures. Aunt Book has, on
occasion, bought a book which she had no real intention of reading,
simply because the cover was so gorgeous.
Library bindings, while often not as
beautiful - or even, to put it bluntly, flat-out ugly - were even
sturdier than the regular books. The cloth coverings were
thicker, rugged, water-resistant cloth, the pages more strongly
sewn. They could endure practically any treatment that could be
dished out. Aunt Book recalls reading once that, in the event of a
nuclear war, the only living creatures to survive would be
cockroaches. If that is true, Aunt Book envisions the cockroaches
leaning back in comfortable chairs, reading old library-bound books,
which would surely
also make it through quite nicely.
And now? What of books now?
Forgive Aunt Book for a moment while she dabs a lace-edged handkerchief
daintily at the corners of her eyes, overcome with distress. Then
permit Aunt Book to introduce you to a concept with which you may not
be familiar: "perfect binding." And permit Aunt Book also
to indulge in an unladylike snort and a "Ha! Perfect, my foot!"
Perfect binding is the binding used in
paperback books. The pages of the book are stacked neatly so that
the edges are even. Glue is applied along one edge, and the spine
of the paper cover is pressed against that glue. Thus the only
thing holding each page in place is a strip of glue as wide as the page
is thick. If the glue dries out, or if the book is read
energetically a few times, pages start coming loose. Aunt Book
has had the experience of turning pages on relatively new paperbacks
only to have the pages come loose in her hand. It is almost
impossible to mend such a book, because when one page is glued another
pulls loose.
Aunt Book is quite content that most
paperbacks should be constructed that way. They have their own
uses: they are relatively cheap, and easily portable.
However, Aunt Book is most definitely
not content that some paperbacks should masquerade as hardcovers.
In many instances, a book that looks like a hardcover, and so is
assumed to be bound like one (that is, sewn), is in fact "perfect
bound." It is in essence a paperback book whose front and back
covers happen to be hard.
Aunt Book once mentioned this fact to a
friend who makes a point of buying hardcover books and keeping them in
pristine condition. The friend checked her books,
discovered that Aunt Book was correct, and pitched a conniption fit,
outraged that publishers were charging many times what a paperback cost
for a binding that was nearly identical to
paperback.
Aunt Book also resents this. She knows
of one spectacularly popular series which is making a fortune for its
author and publisher; and yet the publisher is not willing to go to the
slight added expense of sewing the books rather than perfect binding
them. Since the books are very thick, the strain on the binding
is considerable, with the result that pages start coming loose after
only a few readings.
There are some honorable exceptions, and
there are also some paperback books whose pages are sewn rather than
simply glued into the covers. One can only be sure by looking at
the pages at the top of the spine or at the bottom, and seeing whether
they are grouped into signatures or simply loose pages that have been
glued.
The covers of newer books are another
problem. Many of them, rather than being covered with cloth (and
certainly rather than being covered with leather!) are covered only
with paper, or at best with cloth at the spine and paper for the rest
of the cover. It does not require a stroke of genius to deduce
that paper wears out more quickly than cloth does.
As for finding beautiful embossing or
printing on the covers, Aunt Book suggests that you not hold your
breath. Some books do have some slight decoration, but they blush
with shame when put next to the glories of yesteryear. Dust
jackets, while often quite attractive, do not make up for the loss of
decorated bindings.
Yes, yes, Aunt Book has heard the
defense that the poorer quality of newer books has to do with keeping
the price of the books low enough for more people to afford, rather
than having them restricted only to wealthier people; but if her Dear
Nieces and Dear Nephews will pardon her for saying so, that is
flapdoodle. Edward Stratemeyer built an empire on selling
inexpensive series books (such as the Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew, the
Bobbsey Twins, and many, many, many, many, many, many others) - books
that, although inexpensive, were sturdier and of a better quality than
many of today's hardcovers. Companies rebind books for libraries,
and yet the prices are not much higher than those of the publishers'
bindings.
Aunt Book is seriously displeased, and trusts that the matter will be
remedied. Immediately.
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