BOOKS WILL SPEAK PLAIN: A HANDBOOK FOR IDENTIFYING AND DESCRIBING HISTORICAL BINDINGS

Ann Arbor, MI: The Legacy Press, 2023. hardcover, sewn, dust jacket. 10 x 7 in. hardcover, sewn, dust jacket. 720 pages. 390 illustrations, full-color. Third edition. Enlarged and Revised and in full-color.



When Books Will Speak Plain was first published in 2010, many historic bindings were at risk of being ignored, put away, and forgotten. Since then, awareness has grown, research and publishing by numerous authors on a variety of binding types has substantially increased, and the addressing of the "physical book" - its materials, binding structures, and decoration - have all led to the greater understanding and appreciation of many binding types. Books Will Speak Plain combines an overview of the history of the codex with basic information about many of the materials and structures found on historical bindings. The book also includes description-survey guidelines and is supported by a variety of appendices. The text is illustrated by 390 images, most in full color, and purchasers will have exclusive access to online pdfs that reproduce all of the images printed in the book plus additional ones of those books, as well as a multitude of other examples of bindings that further illustrate the history of binding structures. This award-winning book is a resource that has been used to recognize binding variations that have long been overlooked and to document such bindings for future scholars. Since its publication in 2010, librarians, cataloguers, bibliophiles, bookbinders, curators, private collectors, antiquarian booksellers, book-history scholars, and conservators have found Books Will Speak Plain to be an invaluable reference.