File:Booksewingmachine.jpg

"Book-sewing machines are of two kinds: one sews the books on bands, either flat or round, and the other supplies the place of bands by a kind of chain stitch. The band-working machines bring the return thread back by pulling it through the upper and lower edges of the back of each section, there-by to some extent weakening each section, but at the same time this weakening can be to some extent neutralized by careful head-banding. The other system, where the band is replaced by a chainstitch, brings back the return thread inside each section; the objection to this is that there is a flattening out of the back of the book, which becomes a difficulty when the subsequent operation of covering the book begins. The sections are sewn continuously in a long line, and are afterwards cut apart. The threads catch into hooked needles and are drawn through holes made by piercers set to a certain distance; a shuttle like that used in an ordinary sewing-machine." Chisholm, Hugh. Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and General Information. New York: Encyclopaedia britannica Co, 1910. Internet resource.