The First Cloth Bound Books

In the 1800s there was an evolution in the world of book binding, taking us from leather and casings to the first cloth bound books that we’re now very familiar with. In this video, join guest Curator Prof. Simon Eliot as he explains these developments at a pivotal time in the world of publishing.

This video is the second in a series of five videos celebrating our special exhibition, Beautiful Books: Dickens and the Business of Christmas. The first video can be found here.

Simon Eliot is Professor Emeritus of the History of the Book at the Institute of English Studies, School of Advanced Study, University of London. He was involved in founding the Reading Experience Database (RED); the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading, and Publishing (SHARP); and London Rare Books School. He has published on quantitative book history, publishing history, history of lighting, library history, and the history of reading. He was General Editor of the new four-volume History of Oxford University Press (2013-17); and recently directed a large-scale AHRC-funded project on the communication history of the Ministry of Information 1939-46.