ABSTRACT
While these techniques allowed books to be luxuriously decorated, the same methods could also produce more affordable bound manuscripts. Pressure molding with intaglio dies engraved from dense wood, metal, and even hardened leather largely superseded the time-consuming process of tooling by hand for cover decoration. Various cloths and decorative papers were adapted as covering materials, in place of, or in conjunction with a minimal amount of leather. These novel methods proved to be so effective that they supplanted earlier modes of bookbinding and in time, became established traditions.
