Despite today’s variety of different communication media the book is still of value and important. It is a classic media and the written word is still one of the most important sources of information. To make a book usable, that is readable, it needs a book cover, which consists of a front cover and a verso. The binding is the connection between block and cover, which gives the book an outer casing. Materials like glue and paste are used as binders. A binding provides the required stability.

 

For the first time book covers were mentioned in the time of the Romans. The tradition goes back to the Roman “Diptychen” and “Triptychen” , which were used as tablets from the ancient world till the Middle Ages. Wooden tablets covered with wax are called code form of the book. This goes back to the first century of our time. Bookbinding itself has been a simple handcraft till the beginning of the 20^th century, however the beginnings go back to the third century AD, what makes this handcraft one of the eldest ones. However 19^th century industrialization didn’t pass the bookbinders without a trace. Having adopted the industrial series-production bookbinding rapidly asserted a good position on the market and caused the sporadic existing of handcraft bookbinders. They basically carry out repair works (for example for libraries) or manufacture individual customer wishes. Along with the history of bookbinding the materials used also have changed. The most current covers consist of linen, leather, cardboard or even plastics. From the beginnings till the Middle Ages books were predominantly covered by wood which again was adorned using various techniques.

 

However, in the Middle Ages bookbinders used leather amongst other materials as a popular binder which was upgraded for example by stamping. This period was crowned by the invention of letterpress around the year 1450 (outside of East Asia) by Johannes Gutenberg. During the period of change from the Middle Ages to modern times they began to provide the covers with titles. This was executed by embossing or painting.

 

Nowadays, there is a great variety of binding possibilities for books. Depending on size, form and thickness of a book the binding types vary. Regarding the design of the book cover there are no boundaries and concerning form, colour and material almost everything is possible.

 

If you are looking for products to produce books or even producers and distributors of book covers our B2B catalogue hits the spot. Here you have the possibility of a selective product or producer search.