Nine authors writing on nine topics. This collection of essays, published as the first volume of a series of studies on the history of bookbinding, sets a high standard for interesting and groundbreaking scholarship in the history of books.

• Evyn KropfHistorical, Repair, Recycling, and Recovering Phenomena in the Islamic Bindings of the University of Michigan Library: Exploring the Codicological Evidence
• Sylvie L. MerianProtection, against the Evil Eye? Votive Offerings on Armenian Manuscript Bindings
• Consuela G. Metzger, Colonial Blankbooks in the Winterthur Library
• Robert J. Milevski, A Primer on Signed Bindings
• Julia Miller, Not Just Another Beautiful Book: A Typology of American Scaleboard Bindings
• Jeffrey S. Peachey, Beating, Rolling, and Pressing: The Compression of Signatures in Bookbinding Prior to Sewing
• Martha E. Romero, European Influence in the Binding of Mexican Printed Books of the Sixteenth Century

• Jennifer W. Rosner, Papier-Mâché Bindings: “Shining in Black and Gorgeous with Pearl and Gold”

• John Townsend, The 1715 Mohawk Prayer Book: A Study of Six Copies in Colonial American Scaleboard Bindings

An accompanying DVD (included) contains additional photographs.