Bookbinding: Protection and craft

Bookbinding produces covers that hold and protect the leaves of a book. In Islamic book arts, covers are also areas for decoration. Function and aesthetics appear together on the outer surface of the book.

A book does not consist solely of pages bearing writing; the protection of those pages and keeping them in the correct order is also a form of craftsmanship. A binding must be able to open and close during use and must be able to support its contents. These functions are considered together with the material of the cover and the durability of the structure.

Decoration, on the other hand, carries the protective surface into another layer of meaning. Geometric or vegetal patterns on the cover, the emphasis in the center, and the edge borders can be examined. In a manuscript, the outer cover, inner page layout, and writing are different areas of labor that complement each other.

When evaluating an old book, looking only at the age of the text may not be enough. Whether or not the binding has been renewed later or traces of use raise questions about the life the object has undergone. Although these questions require expert examination, they teach the reader not to see a book as an unchanging object completed at one time.