Bookbinding: Codex and Coptic binding
Just finished up one bookbinding project and part way through another. My first project was a Coptic binding. It’s an ornate, exposed spine binding that has detailed chain stitching on displayed on the spine of the book. A very flexible and utilitarian binding which lies flat allowing for easy reading of the material, the Coptic binding was developed in the 4th century A.D. in Egypt. The chain stitch used to attach signatures to each other had it’s roots in carpet weaving.
The second project that I am currently working on is the Codex binding. It is less ornate than the Coptic yet is every bit as flexible. It is often used in books which are bound with a hard cover as the binding technique is not for display and will be covered up. I’m at the stage of having sewn the signatures together I’ll next be gluing the spine and making the cover.
I have a few projects that I’d like to do with the Coptic binding and will probably be making some engineering notebooks with graph paper bound with the Coptic.
I also plan on updating the gallery with examples of the work that I do. So, if you want to see other pictures in the series, please visit the album here.
This is awesome. Have you ever thought about doing any preservation alongisde this binding? There are a lot of old books and manuscripts in need of some TLC like this.
Comment by David — 10/12/2006 @ 3:48 pm
Yes actually, I’m taking a class right now and covering some basic bindings. In the next class I believe that we’ll cover some advanced techniques such as preservation and re-binding.
Comment by marc — 10/12/2006 @ 3:52 pm
Hi Marc, just found this page of yours and I was wondering if you could recommend a good book (or three) on how to do this Coptic and Codex binding.
I’m getting into drawing and would like to make a few of my own sketchbooks using these methods. A brief search on Amazon yields about 2273 books which I have no way of telling apart so … any recommendation of yours would be much appreciated.
Thanks,
Zap
Comment by Zap — 5/8/2007 @ 2:21 am
Hey Zap, I’m not sure which books are good or not. Our instructor for the course taught us by had and drew the instructions on paper for us. We didn’t use a text book at all. There are a few that I found in book stores but haven’t purchased any recently. If you find some, feel free to post here since many people may also be interested in goo resources on this. BTW, Coptic binding works really good for a drawing/sketch notebook because it can lay flat open while leaving the pages flat too. Good luck!
Comment by marc — 5/8/2007 @ 8:57 am
[…]very well bind how long did u take for single book […]
Comment by sofia — 11/9/2007 @ 1:55 am
I want to learn how to do the Coptic binding. How did you learn? Do you know of any simple, good, tutorials on-line? Thanks
Comment by Marianne — 8/10/2008 @ 4:20 pm
Hey Marianne, I took a Continuing Education class through a local community college. It was great, you might want to see if there are any in your area. I found a couple tutorials on the web back when I took the class but don’t know where I found them now. It’s been a while.
Comment by marc — 8/10/2008 @ 5:43 pm
Can you send simple instructions on the coptic binding? I am having the hardest time finding anything I can follow on the internet. In the end, I’ll probably buy a good book on bookbinding. I can’t take a com. college class now, but it would be great if they offered it. Thanks.
Comment by Marianne — 8/10/2008 @ 9:38 pm