half binding

noun Bookbinding.

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

Origin of half binding

First recorded in 1815–25

Also called half leather.

half leather

noun Bookbinding.

half binding.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for half-leather

Historical Examples of half-leather

Cloth must be used for sides of all books bound in half-leather or half-duck.
Library Bookbinding
Arthur Low Bailey
It was a ledger with a half-leather binding such as storekeepers use for accounts.
The Garden of Eden
Max Brand
For the stronger end papers and in half-leather bindings a cloth joint is used.
Practical Bookbinding
Paul Adam
Books bound in half-cloth or half-leather have the sides covered with paper; the latter often with cloth.
Practical Bookbinding
Paul Adam
For leather or half-leather bindings a strip of wrapping paper or thin cardboard is cut.
Practical Bookbinding
Paul Adam

British Dictionary definitions for half-leather

half-leather

noun

a type of half-binding in which the backs and corners of a book are bound in leather

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012