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Had to push back on a client about their 'museum quality' bindings last week
I was at a collector's estate sale in Portland and saw a bunch of so-called fine bindings that were falling apart at the hinges because someone prioritized fancy gold tooling over proper sewing structure. The guy running the sale kept insisting they were top-tier work, but I pointed out how the endpapers were splitting after only 15 years. Am I wrong for thinking a solid text block matters more than a pretty cover?
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black.wesley18d ago
@lee_butler nailed it. I had the same problem at a local book fair last year. A seller was showing off these ornate leather bindings with gold tooling on the spines, but the text blocks were loose and the joints were cracking. I asked him how the binding was constructed, and he got defensive. I just told him straight up, "A pretty cover means nothing if the book falls apart in your hands after a few years." He didn't like that, but the other collectors nearby started nodding. A solid sewing job and good materials are what keep a book together, not how much gold leaf you can slap on the outside.
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