Peeked at a 200-year-old binding at the Folger Library last week

They had this tiny prayer book open to display and the stitching was this wild zigzag pattern I'd never seen before. The conservator said it was a "herringbone chain stitch" from the 1700s. Has anyone here tried that technique on a modern project?

2 comments

2 Comments

reeselewis16d ago

You ever actually try tying down a truck load with thread that thin? I think the comparison falls apart when you realize bookbinding stitches are structural in a totally different way. The zigzag in a herringbone chain stitch is about distributing stress across the spine, not just making a pattern that looks cool on a fence. It's more like the difference between a knot you can yank tight and a knot that has to hold tension for centuries without tearing paper.

kelly.robin16d ago

Ain't it funny how the same patterns show up everywhere - like that zigzag stitch in old books is basically the same thing as how I tie down loads on my truck? Once you start looking, you see that crisscross rhythm in fences, baskets, even the way some folks braid their hair.