publisher's cloth
The cloth used as the covering material for
edition bindings. The use of cloth has been
widespread in edition binding since about 1850.
Originally introduced as a novel alternative to
paper-covered boards and, like them, looked upon
as only a temporary covering (the purchaser having
the book bound in leather according to his own
needs), its possibilities as a "permanent"
covering material became apparent by the early
1830s. Although many collectors continued to have
their books bound in leather, this practice has
steadily diminished over the years. (69 , 299 )
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