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The traditional book manifests itself in a physical form which is subject to the circumstances of its creation and its subsequent history. The bookbinder is part of that history, occupying the place between the creation of the physical text and its consumption by its readers, whether they are members of the elite or at the lowest end of the economic spectrum. The work of the binder will therefore reflect both the economic and cultural circumstances of the creation of all books and when and where they were made, through variations in the techniques and materials used to make each binding. A close analysis of bindings will therefore cast light on the history of each book and the history of the book and the booktrade in general. The use of sewn bookblocks without cover or boards as a means of presenting books for sale and of limp covers in paper as early as the second decade of the sixteenth century both reveal the economic workings of the booktrade and how people bought their books. The presence on a single binding of the evidence of different cultural influences and national practices can reveal the cosmopolitan nature of the booktrade, just as details of the way in which a book was bound can reveal how individual owners regarded their books. They are essential components of the history of the book, and should be preserved so that they can play their part in the revealing the archaeology of the book. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]