Glue in Hardcovers

I understand that modern hardcover book generally involves a glued
spine as opposed to a sewn one.

Does this fundamentally change the life expectancy of a book? I am
not a 'collector' though I am growing a personal library and I've
lately tried to only purchase hardcovers because I've come to
understand that they will last longer. And the reason I've been given
that they will last longer is that softcover spines, because they are
glued, break and the pages eventually will fall out (singularly or in
chunks).

Will the glue of a modern hardcover ultimately fail, just as in a
trade paperback, and the spine no longer hold the pages? Is the life
expectancy of a modern hardcover really much more than a trade?

Thank you for any help!

Ferris wrote:
> I understand that modern hardcover book generally involves a glued
> spine as opposed to a sewn one.
>
> Does this fundamentally change the life expectancy of a book? I am
> not a 'collector' though I am growing a personal library and I've
> lately tried to only purchase hardcovers because I've come to
> understand that they will last longer. And the reason I've been given
> that they will last longer is that softcover spines, because they are
> glued, break and the pages eventually will fall out (singularly or in
> chunks).
>
> Will the glue of a modern hardcover ultimately fail, just as in a
> trade paperback, and the spine no longer hold the pages? Is the life
> expectancy of a modern hardcover really much more than a trade?
>
> Thank you for any help!


Sewn spines are undoubtedly stronger than glued ones. But I
have seen very few failures in glued spines. One example, I
recently bought a 1st printing of Stephen King's Dead Zone
with dust jacket (for $0.50) that has a chunk of pages
missing. Examination shows a glued spine with evidence of
punching right along the fold edge of the spine. This may
be what is known as "sewing through the fold". See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bookbinding
which also indicates the variety of spine making methods.

Still, sewn spines fail, too. But what I have most noted
about books is that each book tends to fail in one
particular manner or another. For instance, I have a book
with a loose front board. I go on line to AddAll.com and
find that most offerings of the book specify a loose front
board. Or another book has foxing of the endpapers. Again,
on line I find that most examples for sale specify foxing of
the endpapers. Or, take even James Joyce's _Ulysses_ ,
which was first published in paperback in Paris. The
problem, even after 86 years, is not failure of the spine,
but the brittleness of the acid paper used. Yet copies
(1,000 were made) are worth a good bit.

I suppose that in the long run, glued spines will fail more
frequently. That will probably make more business for the
book binding industry as libraries and others seek to
preserve the volume. But the collectibility of a book is
not going to depend upon the gluing of the spine. Demand is
the first issue. Second, is rarity. (So, for instance,
_The Princess Bride_ had only one modest printing as a
hardcover. So, when the movie came out and collectors
started looking for it, it was hard to find.) Third, is
condition. Yes, a failed spine can be a problem, but acid
paper may be a bigger problem. (Take a look at the books
that came out of England in the 1990s. Most of them are
turning yellow now.)

So I would not declare a book not worthy to be collected
because it has a glued spine. I would treat it with greater
care (not opening it flat), and I might even buy a reading
copy so as to keep the first edition in pristine condition.

--
Francis A. Miniter

ως ουκ αν αιων' εκμαθοις βροτων, πριν αν
θανη τις, ουτε ει χρηστος ουτ' ει τω κακος.