Definition

Noun: A style of bookbinding where the material covering the spine extends onto the covers for approximately one-quarter to one-third of their width, with the remaining area of the covers made from a different material.

Usage

This term is used specifically in the context of bookbinding, publishing, and book collecting to describe a particular construction and aesthetic of a book's cover. - The rare first edition featured a distinctive three-quarter binding in leather and cloth. - For my thesis, I had several copies bound in three-quarter binding with a leather spine.

Advanced Usage

• Descriptive Use: The term is often used descriptively in auction catalogs, library records, and bibliographic descriptions to specify a book's physical format.
  • The catalog entry noted the volume's three-quarter binding of morocco over marbled boards.

Variants and Related Words

• Half binding: A similar but distinct style where the spine material extends less onto the covers than in a three-quarter binding.
• Full binding: A style where the entire cover is made from the same material.
• Quarter binding: A style where the spine material extends only slightly onto the covers.

Synonyms

• Three-quarter leather (when the spine material is leather)
• Three-quarter morocco (when the spine material is morocco leather)

Related Terms

• Spine: The part of a book's cover that encloses the bound edge of the pages.
• Boards: The stiff front and back covers of a book.
• Bookbinding: The process of physically assembling a book from a stack of paper sheets.

Noun

1. the spine and much of the sides are a different material from the rest of the cover