BLIND  TOOLING

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The above full binding in red goat skin has been blind tooled, inspired by an 18th century Dublin binding.

Blind tooling has been used as a means of decorating books since the early days of bookbinding, and can be traced back to the 7th or 8th centuries, and even earlier. There is reason to believe that the technique was brought to Europe from the Mediterranean area about the same time as other Coptic techniques being used, possibly by imported craftsmen; however, little is known of blind-tooled bindings until the 12th century and early part of the 13th. In one form or another, the technique has been used continuously up to the present day, but during the 16th to 18th centuries, its use was more or less limited to inferior calf- and sheepskin bindings. Near the end of the 18th and during the early years of the 19th centuries blind tooling was often used on fine bindings in conjunction with gold. Also called "antique tooling."

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