The typical printed book (pages bound together along one edge and protected by some sort of cover) is a codex. A codex refers to pages stacked and bound together so that someone can flip from one page to the next as they read through the book. In the Western world, the codex was preceded by the scroll: a roll of parchment, paper, or vellum that someone unfurls to read, and that lacks distinct pages. Early examples of the codex can be traced back to the first or second century CE and the codex form was widespread by the 4th century CE. Since the binding of pages is central to the codex, bookbinding has existed for as long as this format.

Early books consisted of pages of parchment (treated animal skin) folded and sewn onto strong cords or ligaments that were attached to wooden boards and covered with leather. Since every part of a book was made by hand and the contents contained within were also copied by hand, books were expensive, luxury items; they could also be customized and created specifically to meet the tastes or specifications of a future owner. The 15th-century invention of the printing press (a mechanical device that applies pressure to an inked surface resting upon paper, thereby transferring the ink to paper) made it cheaper and faster to print books, as they no longer needed to be copied by hand.

After the advent of the printing press, bookbinding accelerated, since more books were printed and thus needed to be binding. Gradually rising levels of literacy also increased demand for bookbinding, as did different forms of literature; for example, the rising popularity of English novels in the 18th century (such as Samuel Richardson’s Pamela, published in 1740) led to demand for long, printed texts that were widely read for entertainment. Bookbinders were part of a professional ecosystem including authors, printers (responsible for setting type and printing words and images onto pages), binders (responsible for fashioning printed pages into a book with a cover), and booksellers. Until well into the 1800s in England, most books were sold unbound, in a cheap and temporary paper cover. The purchaser would then be responsible for having the book bound, creating opportunity for customization and collecting books bound in similar style.

By 1901 (when The Bookbinder’s Secret is set), bound books were widely available, but some wealthy collectors still chose to have books rebound to suit their specific tastes or to elevate them into luxury items. Bell incorporates many references to bookbinding and book production into her novel, as well as references to historical figures who were active in this industry; for example, Lilian references “Sarah Prideaux, a woman bookbinder who I admired” (1). Prideaux, a bookbinder, teacher, and author of books on binding and illustration, lived from 1853 to 1933. Because of her dual roles as a bookbinder and bookseller, Lilian encounters a wide array of both rare and common books, referencing, for example, books bound in leather (more traditional) or cloth (a cheaper but less durable option).

Because of how the Abel Bell novels are constructed, they can be used as a hiding spot for Isabel’s treasured documents. When Lilian dissects the various Abel Books to find the hidden documents, she peels the leather cover away from the boards (the stiff material used to create the cover). She finds the documents hidden between the endpaper (pages pasted to the board, creating the first and last pages of the book) and the boards. Throughout the novel, there are also technical terms associated with bookbinding, including doublures (ornamental linings on the inside of a book), foxing (deterioration that causes spots and browning on pages), tooling (the decoration of a book by impressing engraved tools into the spine, boards) and pages being “tipped in” (a page printed separately from the rest of the book but then inserted, often by being glued in).