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Subject: Identification and dating of 19th century publishers' bindings
Here is the revision of the 19th c. publishers' guidelines, originally posted in Conservation DistList Instance: 8:51, prior to the American Library Association (ALA) midwinter meeting (Feb 1995). Changes reflect comments/edits by attendees at the midwinter meeting and notices (gratefully) received from readers of this list. Should you have comments on this version, please contact Charlotte Brown directly. For those attending ALA in Chicago, the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Curators-Conservators Discussion Group will meet on Sunday, June 25th, 8:30 am to 11 am (Plamer House, Parlor F) to review this draft. American Library Association Association for College & Research Libraries (ACRL) Rare Books & Manuscripts Section (RBMS) Curator-Conservator Discussion Group Introduction: The following guidelines are based upon a June 1994 presentation by Randy Silverman, Preservation Librarian/University of Utah, and reflect subsequent review and discussion by the RBMS Curator-Conservator Discussion Group at the February 1995 ALA midwinter meeting. The revised draft guidelines will be posted on the EXLIBRIS, ARCHIVES, and Conservation DistList electronic bulletin boards. Copies are available by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope to: Charlotte B. Brown Department of Special Collections-URL UCLA Library Box 951575 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575 D-R-A-F-T (1st revision) Guidelines: The Identification and Dating of 19th Century Publishers' Bindings Date Name/Description of Binding ---- --------------------------- ca. 1815? - 1830? cloth spines with paper covered boards (Note: produced by publisher; often used as temporary covers with an untrimmed textblock.) ca. 1823-28 Pickering is first publisher to use cloth covers *supply citation?* ca. 1830 first appearance of gilding (gold stamping) of cloth by a blocking press. (Note: generally between ca. 1830-1834 many examples of gilding are "off center" and/or incomplete due to the uneven heat of the stamp. Blocking presses are used for gold stamping from relief dies.) early 1830's first appearance of case bindings (vs. in board); case binding quickly becomes standard; allows mechanized stamping on spine and covers. 1833 first instance of "decorated" cloth: simulated moire silk using a water pattern. (Note: in general, U.S. publishers used cloths manufactured in England until ca. 1870 when several U.S. manufacturers began making cloths for publishing. Exceptions: Harpers manufactured own cloth ca. 1840's; Lea & Blanchard/Philadelphia, T. B. Peterson/Philadelphia, and Ticknor/Boston were early users of cloth.) 1833 embossed cloth first appears: simulated leather (morocco grain), diaper grain, checkerboard pattern, simulated ribbons, grape cluster, scallop & tile (very rare) ca. 1834 stamping images become consistent. ca. 1834 first appearance of publisher stamping spine with name. ca. 1835 first appearance of highly decorated gift books. ca. 1835 first appearance of blind embossing. ca. 1835 first appearance of "binder's ticket" listing the name of the binder; usually located inside front cover. (Note: pasted-in paper label or stamp.) ca. 1839 first appearance of "gutta percha" (less familiarly called "caoutchouc") binding. (Note: an adhesive binding, usually dark brown, using vulcanized rubber; usually found on oversized volumes which include plates; very rare.) 1844 (?) first appearance of onlays using paper or chromolithograph. *supply citation?* 1844 - ca. 1858 first appearance of mosaic bindings employing multiple paper dye cuts with gold. (Note: primarily used by French binders; mosaic bindings lose popularity by 1858.) ca. 1845 paper text block trimmer invented. *clarify whether "three-knife trimmer" or flat bed cutters were used?* (Note: mechanically trimmed books printed prior to ca. 1865 were rare since it usually takes twenty years for new machinery to be acquired by a majority of U. S. publishers/binders. 1847 first appearance of U. S. onlay employing colored dyes applied to leather. 1847 / England first appearance of colored ink on cloth 18__ / United States *supply citations?* ca. 1848 first appearance of calico cloth (Note: very common at the time, but few examples are extant today.) 18__ (?) first appearance of photographic onlays 1850's - 18__ first appearance of "Silver stamping" (very rare - silver tarnishes). 1850's - 1860's covers designed by John Leighton. (Note: Leighton made ca. 1,000 designs of which ca. 500 have been described.) 185__ / France first appearance of papier-mache bindings (employ metal wire supports; rare.) 1853 first appearance of "yellow back" covers by Edmund Evans, Publisher/England. (Note: yellow back covers were cheaper to manufacture: the paper was made of wood pulp and usually colored yellow; often the boards were made of straw; color woodblocks were used on the covers.) 1856 introduction of coal tar ink dyes (more durable). ca. 1859 black ink on cloth becomes prevalent. (Note: prior uses of black ink resulted in smearing) ca. 1860 first appearance of beveled edges (Note: often found on oversized volumes such as Bibles; can be located on all fore edges.) 1880 Sarah Wyman Whitman/Boston, MA begins to design books. *supply citations: first design, first signed* (Note: pre-18__ Whitman designed publications not signed.) ca. 1880's first appearance of "split fountain;" use of colored inks from one color to another in the same design. (Note: the "split fountain" process was created to print more than one color on an otherwise single-color press and kept the colors separate. The "rainbow fountain" allowed the blending of inks. source: Dick Laws/Tuscon, AZ) *** Glossary: (*to be compiled*) *** Additional Readings: Allen, Sue. _Decorated Cloth in America: Publishers' Bindings, 1840- 1910_. (UCLA Center for 17th and 18th Century Studies, Los Angeles) 1994. __________. _Victorian Bookbindings: a Pictorial Survey_. (Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago) c.1976. Middleton, Bernard. _A History of English Craft Bookbinding Technique_. (Holland Press, London) 1978. List of popular 19th c. binding designers most likely to be found in U.S. general stack collections: (*incomplete*) Leighton, John Whitman, Sarah Wyman Charlotte B. Brown UCLA *** Conservation DistList Instance 9:2 Distributed: Saturday, June 17, 1995 Message Id: cdl-9-2-018 ***Received on Thursday, 15 June, 1995