Cambridge style

Intro

Definition: en:An English style of bookbinding practiced largely on theological works and in university libraries. Although used elsewhere, the style was so highly favored by binders in Cambridge in the early years of the 18th century that it became recognized as their speciality, which probably accounts for the name. Books bound in this style were sewn on raised cords, covered in calfskin that was masked and sprinkled in such a manner as to leave a stained central rectangular panel, a plain rectangular frame, which, in turn, was surrounded by a stained outside frame. The books had Dutch marble endpapers and red edges. The spine was pieced with red russia leather labels and had double blind lines at head and tail on each side of the raised bands. The covers were decorated with a two-line fillet close to the edges and on each side of the panel. and with a narrow flower roll worked on each side of the panel close to the lines. There were many variations of this style, including some books tooled in gold, and some with marbled covers and sprinkled panels.

Related terms

Language code"Language code" is a predefined property that represents a BCP47 formatted language code and is provided by Semantic MediaWiki.	Translated term	Source	Citation textThis property is a special property in this wiki.	Status	Skos:scopeNote
en	Cambridge style1	Etherington	Roberts, Don., et al. Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books : a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology. Library of Congress : For Sale by the Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O., 1982.	preferred	An English style of bookbinding practiced largely on theological works and in university libraries. Although used elsewhere, the style was so highly favored by binders in Cambridge in the early years of the 18th century that it became recognized as their speciality, which probably accounts for the name. Books bound in this style were sewn on raised cords, covered in calfskin that was masked and sprinkled in such a manner as to leave a stained central rectangular panel, a plain rectangular frame, which, in turn, was surrounded by a stained outside frame. The books had Dutch marble endpapers and red edges. The spine was pieced with red russia leather labels and had double blind lines at head and tail on each side of the raised bands. The covers were decorated with a two-line fillet close to the edges and on each side of the panel. and with a narrow flower roll worked on each side of the panel close to the lines. There were many variations of this style, including some books tooled in gold, and some with marbled covers and sprinkled panels.

See also

• "18th century trade binding" blog post by Henry Hebert about making a model of a book in the Cambridge style.

• Colinshaw, Nick. The Cambridge Panel: A step-by-step tutorial. Skin Deep: The Biannual Newsletter from J. Hewit & Sons Ltd. Vol. 36, Autum 2013.

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