RAISED BANDS
In looking at many old books bound in the eighteenth or early part of the nineteenth century, or at books bound within recent years for individuals, one will find many that have the back divided by ridges. These are known as "raised bands." They are formed by sewing the book differently from either of the methods described up to this point.
According to this method the bands are not placed in grooves which sink them below the surface of the back, but are simply laid against the back. In sewing the thread may come out at the near side of the band and in at the far side, thus going around the band on the back of the book; or it may come out at the far side and in at the near side, thus entirely encircling the band. In either case the sewing is exceedingly strong. Since the bands are entirely on the surface, the leaves open all the way to the back of the signatures and greater flexibility can be obtained thereby. (Fig. 10.)
Figure 10.—Sewing on raised bands. No saw cuts except for kettle stitches. Based on illustration in Report of the Committee on Leather for Bookbinding. Edited for Society of Arts, London, 1905.
As it is much more difficult to sew and forward books with raised bands, they are not used in ordinary library work. It may be advisable, however, to use them occasionally on a few large reference books such as dictionaries, where great flexibility combined with strength is essential. In fact the merits of binding in this way are not recognized as generally as they should be.
Many books look as if they were sewed on raised bands when in reality they are sewed in the ordinary way, with false raised bands pasted on the back. They add nothing to strength and have no place in library binding.