American Publishers’ Bookbindings, 1800–1900

Course Description

“Anyone who works with or is interested in working with nineteenth-century cultural heritage would gain a tremendous amount from this class.” — 2017 student Binderies in nineteenth-century America underwent dynamic changes, evolving from small shops employing a handful of workers to large factories producing thousands of bindings per day using assembly-line techniques. In this course, we will examine the industrialization of bookbinding in America during the nineteenth century and the evolving organization of labor within binderies. Major topics covered will also include: the transition from attached board binding to case binding, the introduction of cloth as a binding material, and the increased and book-specific decoration opportunities case binding allowed. During the course, we will discuss a number of important individuals and establishments, including Benjamin Bradley, the Harper Establishment, the Altemus Bindery, Sarah Wyman Whitman, and Margaret Armstrong. In addition, the course will examine the changing decorative style of American publishers’ bindings during the nineteenth century and the increasing bibliographic significance of bindings.

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Advance Reading List

Recommended Reading

Gaskell, Philip. A New Introduction to Bibliography. London: Oxford University Press, 1972; corrected edition 1974; several times reprinted, most recently (2009) by Oak Knoll Press. Read pp. 146–153 (“Binding”) and 230–250 (“Edition Binding”).

Pickwoad, Nicholas. “Onward and Downward: How Binders Coped with the Printing Press before 1800.” In A Millennium of the Book: Production, Design, and Illustration in Manuscript and Print, 900–1900, edited by Robin Myers and Michael Harris, 61–106. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 1994.

Suggested Reading

Allen, Sue. “Machine-Stamped Bookbindings, 1834–1860.” Antiques 115 (March 1979): 564–572; reprinted in Guild of Book Workers Journal 18 (1979–80): 1–23.

Comparato, Frank E. Books for the Millions. Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole, 1971.

Miller, Julia. Books Will Speak Plain: A Handbook for Identifying and Describing Historical Bindings. Ann Arbor, MI: Legacy Press, 2010. Read Chapter 4, pp. 135–191.

Pickwoad, Nicholas. “The Origins and Development of Adhesive Case Bindings.” Jaarboek voor Nederlandse Boekgeschiedenis 19 (2012): 117–130.

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Course Evaluations

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Course History