Looking for Descriptive Terms for Bindings

Some books I have have "boards" completely covered with a single piece
of something which appears to be fabric treated with some waterproofing
material. (At any rate, it usually has a woven texture and looks
shiny.) Others have this material only on the spine, with most of the
front and back boards covered with plain un-shiny colored paper (which
shows oil stains much more clearly ).

What are the terms for describing these bindings?

(Even if I knew of a site with definitions for book collectors, what I'm
looking for is the terms for these definitions, not vice versa.)

--
Evelyn C. Leeper
Faith is not so much a binary pole as a quantum state,
which tends to indeterminacy when closely examined. -John Updike

Evelyn C. Leeper wrote:

> Some books I have have "boards" completely covered with a single piece
> of something which appears to be fabric treated with some waterproofing
> material. (At any rate, it usually has a woven texture and looks
> shiny.) Others have this material only on the spine, with most of the
> front and back boards covered with plain un-shiny colored paper (which
> shows oil stains much more clearly ).
>
> What are the terms for describing these bindings?
>
> (Even if I knew of a site with definitions for book collectors, what I'm
> looking for is the terms for these definitions, not vice versa.)
>

Hi Eveyln,

If you could give us a few titles, we might be able to find them in our
collections and give a better response.

Without that information, I know that I may have a few books that fit the
description you give, at least ones with the binding fully so encased. I have
not seen any quarter bindings that look like that. One I have that comes to
mind is "The Deposition of Father McGreevy" by Brian O'Doherty (NY:Turtle Point
1999). This seems to be a variant cover from the normal cover based on my
review of items for sale on-line. It almost seems that the cover was soaked in
polyurethane by the publisher.


Francis A. Miniter