Gebrochene Rücken: Tight-Back Silmarillion Index Rebind

 

This post will cover the third—and probably final—bookbinding project, the INDEX rebind, derived from the same poor dismantled UNIVERSITY PRESS copy of The Silmarillion (1977) previously discussed in Peter D. Verheyen Edelpappband-Style Quenta Rebind (Part 1) and Quarter-Vellum Akallabêth Rebind (Part 2). 

 

This project brought together a number of previously practised techniques, and added a few new ones. I am, again, indebted to various methods demonstrated by Darryn Schneider; his DAS BOOKBINDING website—including links to all his YOUTUBE videos—can be found here. By this time I had also bought and read Jen Lindsay's Fine Bookbinding: A Technical Guide (The British Library / Oak Knoll Press, 2009); this informed at least one technique executed here. 

 

INDEX (b. 2022) 

 

UNIVERSITY PRESS bound their copies of The Silmarillion in 32-page gatherings, and as with the ‘Quenta Silmarillion’ and the ‘Akallabêth’, the ‘Index’ fell conveniently (complete) for binding; this time in three gatherings. I decided to bind these on their own.

 

My contemporary note for this binding reads:  

 

“Half-leather rebind of several sections of larger orig.; gatherings (only) retained. Specific folio/page rearrangement, limited gathering repairs. Folios re-sewn using orig. punch holes; double-fold coloured endpapers, sewn on; sp. glued, rounded, & (leather) lined; top-edge dyed. Boards laced-on (tapes), leather sp. & corners, buckram boards. Gold (foil) tooled leather sp. label added, blind tooling to sp. & covers. Matching buckram slipcase.” 

 

As before, some exposition.

 

Gatherings and endpapers

 

I admit—as this late remove (binding completed 2022)—I'm struggling to remember precisely what small rearrangement of folios was required; something needed adjusted, but nothing significant. For the ‘Index’ there is a break in the 32-page gathering format, the eleventh gathering is only 16 pages; this can clearly be seen in image #2 ‘Exposed spine after lining removal’ in Gebrochene Rücken (Part 1). For more recent bookbinding projects I've started to keep better (!), more detailed contemporary notes. In any case, the folios were largely intact and there was little need of gathering repairs. 

 

Sewing tapes

 

Endpapers were added (coloured and white) to the three gatherings; all were re-sewn on sewing tapes. I rather like sewn endpapers, they add strength, but they don't always look very refined. For coloured endpapers it also requires a suitable thread match, which isn't always practical. So I decided to attempt a version of Arthur W. Johnson's double-folded (hidden) sewn endpaper, described in his Manual of Bookbinding (Thames and Hudson, 1978, p. 58, ‘method 1’). The endpaper is folded to form a hook, the hook is then sewn through; when the endpaper is pasted down the sewing is protected under the board paper i.e. the sewing isn't visible.

 

Rounded but not backed

 

After some solid edge treatment—top page-edge dyed blue—the spine would need to be rounded. Rounding and backing small books can be tricky; most would argue unnecessary, too. The spine is narrow and the number of gatherings—in this case only three—few; it is therefore difficult to create the desired shape that backing aims to achieve. I decided, therefore, to only round the spine, but not back. For more detail on the rationale for both rounding and backing, see Gebrochene Rücken (Part 1).

 

Slips

 

Not being backed, the joint created is less right-angled and more gradually sloped; the boards were shaped (sanded) to fit this. The tapes were then formed into slips and the boards laced-on. A narrow guard was affixed temporarily between the boards and the spine (joint) at this point; this creates a small gap which allows for any later potential pull (contraction) of the leather. The guards are removed after the covering leather has dried.

Leather spine lining

 

I decided to line the spine, for the first time, with leather. Leather is flexible, thick (relative to paper linings), and can be sanded down (thinned); this enables the spine to be worked incredibly smooth. Leather scraps can be used for this purpose.

Half-leather binding style

 

This was also my second attempt—the first attempt was not aesthetically successful—at a flexible-style (‘tight-back’) binding. This was the predominant binding style prior to the invention of case-binding, which Bernard C. Middleton (A History of English Craft Bookbinding, p. 74) dates to around 1825–1830. There are more suitable ways to bind small books, but I wanted to attempt this again. I chose to execute the binding in half-leather to allow myself a little more control.

 

Bands and blind-tooling

 

Despite the leather lining, the underlying tapes were still clearly discernible after covering. Rather than attempting to disguise or ignore this, I chose to work the spine into bands and compartments, polishing the bands to provide contrast and blind-tooling the compartments. The spine label was worked off-book and a complimentary slipcase added later. 

 

Label practise

 

The only real fault with the finished book is the double-folded (hidden) sewn endpaper; once glued down the endpapers pulled more than anticipated. The ‘hidden’ sewing is, well, not entirely hidden. The gold foil label has also, for reasons still to be determined, not retained its brightness. I will remedy this and make a new label at some later date. Otherwise, looking at this project two years out, I'm reasonably satisfied with how this one turned out. 

 

Finished book and slipcase

Contemporary materials note: 

 

 

Also on SILMARILLION MINUTIAE

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