half binding

American  

noun

Bookbinding.

1. a type of book binding consisting of a leather binding on the spine and, sometimes, the corners, with paper or cloth sides.

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half-binding British  

noun

1. a type of hardback bookbinding in which the spine and corners are bound in one material, such as leather, and the sides in another, such as cloth

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Etymology

Origin of half binding

First recorded in 1815–25

Example Sentences

Cloth, 40 cents per volume; half binding, or library style, 50 cents per volume; half calf, extra, $1.25 per volume.

From History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Traveller in the Tropics Being a Political, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Island, from its First Discovery to the Present Time by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Six volumes, with portrait. 12mo., cloth, 40 cents per volume; half binding, or library style, 50 cents per volume; half calf, extra, $1.25.

From History of Cuba; or, Notes of a Traveller in the Tropics Being a Political, Historical, and Statistical Account of the Island, from its First Discovery to the Present Time by Ballou, Maturin Murray

Full leather is much more expensive than half binding, though not doubly so.

From A Book for All Readers An Aid to the Collection, Use, and Preservation of Books and the Formation of Public and Private Libraries by Spofford, Ainsworth Rand