When did book binding begin?
The first to bind books were the Indians; they used to write the Sutra on palm leaves that were cut in half, the leaves where then dryed and rubbed with ink which would leave a stain in the wound. The finished leaves were given numbers and two twines were threaded through each end and through two wooden boards; when closed the excess leaves would be wrapped around the wooden boards. The Romans imported this method and used it with papyrus and called it the codex. The problem with the codex is that you can write and read only one side of the page. The Egyptians later invented the method of folding the page made of vellum or parchment in two and sewing on the fold, this enabled writing on both sides of the page. They still used two wooden boards to hold it as before. The Arabs revolutionised the book’s production and its binding: they learnt how to make paper from the Chinese and they created books almost as we know them today; the pages were made of paper written on both sides of the pa
