[Works]

1823

de Beer Ea 1822 T

[London]: [William] Pickering

In the early 19th century, specialization had begun, with publishers separating from booksellers and binders. Not only did production processes speed up, but there was a real need for alternative binding materials. Cloth won the day; mechanized casing as a binding process would soon follow. This edition of Terence was published by William Pickering (1796-1854) in 1823. No. 4 in the Diamond Classics series, it represents one of the first publishers’ bindings in cloth, an innovation worked through by Pickering’s binder Archibald Leighton. Although velvet had been used and there were a few London binders dealing in silk, the impact of the use of cloth on the craft of bookbinding, and publishing in general, was significant.