Anatomy of a Book

More than just covers and pages, books are bodies of knowledge that have their own anatomy, and there is unique vocabulary to describe all of a book’s parts. These parts are structurally functional or decorative — or both! Books are objects that are meant to be physically interacted with and used, and this is reflected in their mechanics.

A wide array of book structures are represented in the UC Berkeley Library collections, including East Asian, South East Asian, Islamic, and Western bindings, not to mention the wild card versions in the area of artist’s books. Common book structures include: books sewn on cords, case bindings, and adhesive bindings.