BPG Board Attachment

Conservation Specialties

Conservation Specialties Analysis and Imaging Preventive Care Education and Professional Development Workplace Practices About Conservation Lexicon

• Book and Paper

Group

• Book and Paper Group

Section

• Book Components

Book and Paper Group Wiki > Book Conservation Wiki > Board Attachment

Board attachment describes the various methods of securing book boards to a text block. Boards can be attached individually to each side of the text block, or they can be attached to an outer covering first, and this unit attached to the textblock. The latter is called a case. In general, boards are either sewn, laced or glued, or some combination of these.

This page discusses and illustrates board attachment methods. For a discussion of treatment techniques for reattaching detached boards, see Board Reattachment.

Wiki Contributors: Pam Barrios, Chris McAffee, please add your name here

Copyright 2025. The AIC Wiki is a publication of the American Institute for Conservation (AIC). It is published as a convenience for the members of AIC. Publication does not endorse nor recommend any treatments, methods, or techniques described herein. Information on researching with and citing the wiki can be found on the Reference and Bibliography Protocols page.

Cite this page:

American Institute for Conservation (AIC). "BPG Board Attachment." AIC Wiki. April 25, 2025. https://www.conservation-wiki.com/wiki/BPG_Board_Attachment.

Sewn Boards

The same sewing thread used for leaf attachment (rather than any additional sewing support) is used to attach boards. Examples of this structure include historical Ethiopian bindings and Gary Frost's "sewn board" binding.

• 

  Ethiopian binding model with sewn boards (outside)

• 

  Ethiopian binding model with sewn boards (inside)

Laced Supports

In a supported sewing system, the supports extend beyond the textblock spine and are used to secure the boards. Common supports are cords , thongs, and tapes. These extended supports are fed through pre-made holes, and grooves or channels may also be cut to recess the supports, which are then secured in placed or “fixed” with paste or animal glue, creating a combination of mechanical and adhesive board attachments. Extensions of sewn endband cores can also be used as additional attachments.

• 

  Cord sewing supports run across the outside of a board and laced into pre-drilled holes

• 

  Cord sewing supports which are frayed out and pasted to the inner face of a board

Laced Case

The limp vellum system of covering attaches a case by using a system of lacing. In this instance, gluing is not always necessary

• Limp vellum
• 

  Outside

• 

  Spine

• 

  Inside

Case Binding

Both board are brought together

Glued Supports, Hinges, or Other Attachments

• Paper Hinges

One or more outer leaves of the outer sewn sections may be used as a hinge and glued to the boards.

• Cloth Hinges

A cloth hinge may be hooked around and sewn to the outermost signature of the textblock. This hinge is glued to the boards.

• Bradel
• 

  Case

• 

  Nested case

• Spine Linings

Cloth or vellum may be glued across the spine and extended to create hinges, which are then glued to the boards

• Split board

Tapes or hinges are glued between the two parts of a double-board.

Historical models, text, and photographs by Pamela Barrios.

Selected Bibliography

Cockerell, S. 1977. Ethiopian Binding, Designer Bookbinders Review.

• Miura, K. T. 1984. My World of Bibliophile Binding. Berkeley: University of California Press.

• Clarkson, C. 1982. Limp Vellum Binding, Herts, England: 1982.

• Levy, Bruce R. The Restoration Rebinding of Speculum Naturale by Vincent of Beauvais, and the Subsequent Development of Several Options for Conservation Rebinding Structures Based on Details Found During the Restoration. The American Institute for Conservation v.6, 1987 http://aic.stanford.edu/sg/bpg/annual/v06/bp06-08.html

History of This Page

Prior to the creation of the AIC Conservation Wiki, this page was created as "Section 3 - Chapter 5 - Board Attachment" of the Book Conservation Catalog by Pam Barrios and Chris McAffee. For more see: History of the BPG Wiki.