bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from stacks of paper sheets that are folded together into sections called signatures. several signatures are then bound together along one edge with a thick needle and sturdy waxed thread.
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book binding
a brief timeline of the bound book
making a kettle stitch. link to video
*Circa 100 BCE: The first books are bound in India. Religious sutras were copied onto palm leaves, which were split, dried, rubbed with ink and bound with twine.

*Circa 150CE: The decline of the scroll begins. The process was gradual, lasting for another 300 years for the rolled manuscript to disappear from use.

*Circa 400CE: Crafting of leather-bound books appears.

*Circa 550CE: Metal book covers appear.

*1741-1753: Christoph Ernst Prediger writes the first exhaustive manual on book binding. The work was published in four separate volumes, covering everything from cost of materials and technique to apprenticeship regulations.

*1810-1820: British publishers begin using cloth as a binding material.

*Circa 1830: Case bindings that allowed mechanized stamping of the covers and spines were designed. This was the first significant step to automating the process of book binding.

*1857: The first flap-style dust jackets are used in England.
book conservation

book conservators take measures to ensure the longevity of historic books using a range of methods, including spine inserts, humidity control as well as more intensive restorative work. the sussex conservation consortium is one such organisation that kees the craft of book binding alive and ensures the continuation of bound books for generations to come. link to their website.