The Good Books

Much has been written about the Bible as text, but there's less out there about the books themselves. Working hard to fill that void is the blog Bible Design and Binding. It's awesome--an entire blog devoted to ghosting (aka, bleedthrough--ie, how much does the text on the opposite side of the page show on the other side), the length of ribbon markers, and my favorite entry so far Leather Smackdown: Goat vs. Calf.

There's clearly a lot to learn here. I'm still trying to figure out what "semi-yapp edges" are. I'm googling it furiously.--David E

PS: Bible-ophiles will enjoy this entry from the Links section: Blog and Mablog (exegesis here and here).

UPDATE: A yapp is the limp, projecting edges of a leather cover. More interestingly, the name derives from William Yapp, a London bookseller of the later 1900s. Thanks to Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: A Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology.