Ever wonder how to describe your book, or what each part is called? Here is a little primer on book anatomy.

Boards- the hard front and back of a hard cover book.

Case- another word for a hard cover, usually covered with cloth or paper. A case is made separately from the text, then attached to the text block.

Endsheet- the decorative or plain paper visible right inside the cover when you open a book. The part glued onto the board is the pastedown, the part that turns with the pages is the flyleaf.

Foredge- the edge of the book that opens. Parallel to the spine, it runs between the head and tail.

Gutter- the area of the text block where the pages meet each other. Often the sewing can be seen if you look carefully into the gutter.

Head and Tail- the top and bottom edges of the book.

Headcaps or endcaps- the part of the cover material that curves around the spine at the head and tail. These are subject to damage when used foolishly as a place to hook one’s finger when pulling a book off a shelf.

Headbands or endbands- the narrow strip of decorative material along the head and tail of the text block at the spine. Usually woven, they are not a structural part of a case binding.

Hinge or joint- the area where the boards meet and move at the spine (just like a door.) Some people use hinge to refer to the inside and joint to refer to the outside and some people use them interchangeably, relying on “inner joint” and “outer joint” (or hinge) to clarify.

Hollow- the space between the spine of the cover and the spine of the text block, a tunnel that allows the pages to move away from the cover cloth (called “throwing up”) and drape properly when the book is open. A hollow is a necessity for a case-bound book; paperbacks do not have them.

Mull- the mesh strip that supports the connection of text block to case in a case-bound book. It can usually be seen under the pastedown right inside the cover. It is also sometimes called super or crash.

Pastedown- see endsheet.

Spine- this is the area of the book that is visible when the book is on the shelf, usually where the book is titled.

Text Block- the pages, either sewn or glued together.

Our new workspace is finally as it should be, and everything has found its right place. The big paper drawers and the guillotine were the tricky parts, but once they were right everything else followed.

The space is bright and much warmer than the old shop, and the windows look out into stone walls and woods. There are even multiple closets for all of the necessary and desirable supplies, and a place of pride for the all-important board shears used for cutting everything from gossamer thin Japanese tissue to cloth to heavy binder’s board. Mine is a Marshall, Son and Co. model, made in Boston, with a beautiful wooden bed and graceful cast iron legs and brackets. It has served me well and traveled across the country with me. Now it seems to be suited to its new home.