Summary
Cobden-Sanderson begins by calling bookbinding one of the arts, since 'through it a man expresses himself', and then, declaring 'The apron is the banner of the future!', puts on his apron. He touches on the papyrus roll and the cylinders round which manuscripts were wound, explains that a binding is two boards covered in leather, silk or velvet, and prefers morocco to calf. He names a few great binders and patrons, such as Le Gascon and Grolier, though Wilde finds the history thin. He demonstrates smoothing, pressing, cutting and paring, divides bindings into the useful and the beautiful, and dislikes cloth.
A beautiful binding, he says, must come from the man himself, so there must be no division of labour: 'I make my own paste and enjoy doing it.' Good binding needs a social revolution that frees the worker from the employer, the employer from the public, and the public from cheapness. Wilde calls this sound, but argues that bookbinding is essentially decorative. Good decoration is suggested by material and method and is always traditional; these crafts are impressive, not expressive, arts, and their beauty is abstract.