books of permanent interest
A category established by Douglas Cockerell
shortly after the turn of the century in an effort
to categorize the time, effort and funds to be
expended in binding books of an "intermediate"
nature—i.e., books of permanent scholarly,
historical, etc., interest, but of relatively
little monetary or esthetic interest, which should
be solidly and well bound, but for which the most
expensive work would be inappropriate. In
Cockerell's day, this category of books was bound
by hand, sewn with linen thread around cotton or
linen tapes, which were secured between split
boards (when the books were large and heavy), and
covered with strong cloth or the most durable
leather, or a combination of the two, e.g.,
quarter or half bindings. In greatly modified
form, the Library Binding Institute has continued
to define this category of books. See: PERMANENT MATERIALS .
See also: BOOKS OF
TEMPORARY INTEREST ;BOOKS OF VALUE .
(83 )