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Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of separate sheets of paper or other material.

Historical

The craft of bookbinding may have originated around the 1st century A. D. Romans of the time created a form of simple book called a codex by folding sheets of vellum or parchment in half and sewing them through the fold. Codices were a significant improvement over papyrus or vellum scrolls, in that they were easier to handle, allowed writing on both sides of the leaves, and could be searched through more quickly.

Later books were bound between hard covers, with pages made from paper, or parchment, but were still created by stitching folded sheets at the seam. Since early books were exclusively handwritten on handmade materials, sizes and styles varied considerably, and each book was a unique creation or a copy of it. Save On Binding Machines.

With the arrival (from the East) of rag paper manufacturing through Europe in the late Middle Ages and the use of the printing press beginning in the mid-15th century, bookbinding began to standardize somewhat. But page sizes still varied considerably.

Some books have even been bound in human skin. See anthropodermic bibliopegy.

Modern commercial binding

There are various commercial techniques in use today.