Bookbinding
Nicholas Pickwoad
Codex-form books, with leaves of wood, papyrus, parchment, or paper, require a binding. Single-section bookblocks limp cases and multi-section bindings unsupported sewing boards survive in the Eastern Mediterranean from fourth century Western Europe eighth century. In Middle Ages, books supported might still have covers inboard wooden covered tanned alum-tawed skin, textile. The invention printing 1450s led to need for ever cheaper lighter-weight parchment paper boards, cheapest which were sheep calf most expensive imported goatskin gold-tooled decoration. Adhesive case bindings, known 1520s, developed into dominant binding type 1820s, opening way industrialization trade use machinery bind books.