The anatomy of a codex

A codex is not a block: it is a sewn creature. It begins with the gathering — four bifolia folded, eight leaves, sixteen pages — and grows by accumulation, like a spine gaining vertebrae. The raised bands you see on the back of an old book are not decoration: they are the actual tendons of that sewing.

Understanding this anatomy changes the way you look at a piece. Next time you open an old book — or its facsimile — look for the bands, count the gatherings by their thread, study the endbands. The book will tell you how it was made.