The sheets of which a book is to be made, when properly folded (into
half for folio, quarter for quarto, &c.) are pressed flat in a press
and then placed, one or more at a time, on a board behind a frame
called a “sewing-press” (fig. 1), which has pieces of string or cord
(called bands) tied in an upright position, and against these the
folded edge of the sheet is brought in such a manner that the bands
may be sewn on to the back of the sheet by a thread being passed from
the inner part of the folded sheet to one side of the string, then in
again on the other, and so on for each cord till they are fastened on
to the first sheet, when another is placed on the top of the first
and sewed in the same way.