Excavation

I purchased this 19th century spelling book at a flea market with the intention of repurposing it. Since its cover was well worn and the brittle pages were turning a light amber, I thought it would be nice to include the text in collages. I never thought I'd find what was inside.

With a sharp blade I carefully extracted the text block from the covers. When I did, I discovered a binding I had never seen before. The pages were arranged into signatures, but there was no sewing and no glue.

Instead, the signatures were wrapped tightly at the spine with a piece of super, then held together with a 1/4--inch wide piece of (now rusty) metal on the front and back and riveted together.

Judging from the look of the rivets on the underside of the signatures they were most likely hand-hammered. I can only guess this binding was created to make the pages less likely to be ripped out by small hands. If anyone has any information on this binding, please let me know!

I love discovering odd bindings like this. When I took Ann Frellsen's Book Doctor 101 class at the Paper and Book Intensive last year someone found a 19th century binding that included thick staples and sewing. Its Frankenstein-esque appearance was bizarre and fascinating, and Ann explained that this was part of the evolution of bindings as binders tried different methods of constructing books.

I also found this patent notice. I wonder how long this binding was used. And now I can't wait to go back to the flea market and find more books like this.

Seeing this binding got my wheels spinning, and now I'm thinking of trying to modify this version of a stab binding into something viable for a journal. Hmmmm......

 

 

Comments

[Sally Johnson]

This book looks awesome! Great pictures. This makes me want to start collecting old books. I'm glad I came across this site while I was researching excavation and mini piles. Keep up the good work and good luck!

[Jeannine]

Thanks so much, Sally! I love old books as well. They're such amazing relics of the past.