Everyday Books: an introduction to short run commercial bindings in early Twenty-First century Australia

Abstract

Since the turn of the nineteenth century, Australian binders have produced books to serve local publishers, businesses, and individual consumers. Over the past two centuries, the printing and binding industry has grown in response to changes in technology and customer demand to suit the present day Australian context. A consumer can now choose products ranging from traditional fine-binding styles to online instant print-and-bind services. Increasingly, collections of bound materials reflect the diversity of available binding styles and products. This paper aims to aid collection care professionals in the care and understanding of contemporary book bindings in early twenty-first century Australia. In contrast to existing literature on fine bindings and mass market book production, this paper examines short run commercial bindings. Drawing from historical sources and professional experience working in local binderies, the context of these cost-effective bindings is described. An outline of the materials and methods found in a selection of popular styles, namely perfect, case, and wire bindings, is provided, with reference to sources from manufacturers and suppliers. Conservation issues associated with contemporary commercial bindings are detailed, highlighting problems related to non-archival adhesives, plastics, and physical structures. Recommendations are made on how to best care for these increasingly prevalent bindings.

Keywords:

• Book conservation
• book binding
• modern materials
• library and archives
• Australia

Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia. In the spirit of reconciliation, we recognise the Custodians of the land on which the authors live and work: the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation and the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present, and emerging. The authors would also like to thank Petronella Nel at the University of Melbourne, who acted as supervisor to one of the authors during the writing of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by The University of Melbourne under the Melbourne Research Scholarship (Stipend); and by the Australian Government under the Research Training Program Scholarship (Fee Offset) and the Australian Research Council's Linkage Projects funding scheme (project LP160100160). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and are not necessarily those of The University of Melbourne, the Australian Government, or the Australian Research Council.

Notes on contributors

Cancy Chu

Cancy Chu is a PhD candidate at the Grimwade Centre for Cultural Materials Conservation at the University of Melbourne. She is completing her dissertation on the conservation of plastics in book collections. She holds a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation specialising in works on paper from the University of Melbourne (2017), and a BA in Studio Art from Reed College, USA (2015). She has published and presented on the topics of synthetic notebook papers and plastics in Australian archives, and hopes to continue building knowledge of contemporary book forms.

Caitlin Knight

Caitlin Knight has a background in fine arts and hand bookbinding, learning her craft in Sydney and Melbourne binderies. She graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Master of Cultural Materials Conservation in 2020 specialising in book and paper conservation. Since graduating, Caitlin has worked at the Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences and is currently working at the National Archives of Australia. Caitlin has held the position of co-convenor of the AICCM book and paper group since 2019.