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• half binding
  half binding

  noun

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

  noun

  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

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

See Examples For:

half binding half-binding

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

But its utility and economy have been demonstrated too long to admit of any doubt that half-binding has come to stay; while, as we have seen, it is also capable of attractive aesthetic features.

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

It is said that the invention of half-binding originated among the economists of Germany; and some wealthy bibliophiles have stigmatized this style of dressing books as "genteel poverty."

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

In half-binding chosen for the great majority of books because it is much cheaper than full leather, the sides are covered with muslin or with some kind of colored paper—usually marble.

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