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Hand Bookbindings

Endbands, often called headbands, are elements adhered or sewn on at the head and tail of the textblock spine, often slightly hidden under the headcaps of the covering leather. In medieval bindings, and on later bindings of higher quality, endbands were labor-intensive, carefully worked structural elements. Through the fifteenth century at least, endbands were sewn onto a core material, the ends of which were laced into the boards along with the sewing supports. This technique provided additional strength to the binding at the head and tail of the joints. In the best work, endbands are frequently "tied down" to the textblock, providing a firm anchorage across the spine. Binders quickly found ways to economize in making endbands. They decreased the number of times the sewing thread tied the endband down into the textblock, and the core around which the endband was sewn was often cut off at the joints, eliminating the step of lacing it into the boards. By the nineteenth century, except in more expensive bindings, endbands were little more than decorated pieces of fabric glued onto the head and tail of the textblock spine, providing little structural strength or durability.