The English language is a funny thing, especially when “breaking-in” something is what you do to prevent something from breaking. But there it is.

I love hardcover books. The quality of paper the printers use is generally of a higher quality, and the bindings tend to last longer. But a good binding will only last if it is treated properly. When you get a new book, you never want to open it straight down the middle when you first handle it. Doing this can damage or even crack the spine and ruin your new book. Instead, you want to ease it open, little by little.

When I got a new set of leather bound scriptures for my birthday a few years ago, it came with a little set of instructions on how to condition its new binding. I asked my son to help demonstrate how it’s done with the new collection of Sherlock Holmes he got for Christmas.

Here we go.

Start with your book, flat on a table, with the spine down. Like this:

Open the front cover and lay it down on the table. Then open the book to the twentieth page or so, and smooth the pages down with your hand. Nice and gently. Don’t force anything.

Do the same thing on the other side.

Go back to the first side, and turn down another ten or twenty pages, and smooth them down. Repeat with the other side. Keep going with another twenty pages, and alternate back and forth between the front and the back.

When you reach the middle, you’re done. Close the book, open to the first page, and start reading. Now that, my friends, is elementary.

While I was posting this, I was happy to find similar instructions from the bookbinder William Matthews.

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11 Responses to “how to break in a book binding”

1. Ashley says:

   31 December 2011 at 8:47 am

   Thank you so much! I have been wondering if there was a good way to do this.
2. Connie (the write one) says:

   31 December 2011 at 10:26 am

   Thanks for showing us how to treat our friends. Plus, Sherlock Holmes is my favorite, and I’m sure Stuart is going to love them.
3. marla says:

   1 January 2012 at 12:38 pm

   This is so interesting and simple! Love the step by step too. Happy new year
4. The Week in Review – 01.06.12 | lifeofcarbon says:

   6 January 2012 at 11:24 am

   [...] to properly break-in a book binding. For those of you who own a million hardcover books. [...]
5. Jaime {sophistimom} says:

   6 January 2012 at 11:32 am

   Thanks, Connie, Marla, and Ashley. And Happy New Year to you, too!
6. astudent says:

   5 November 2012 at 7:18 pm

   Thank you so much!!
7. Jaime {sophistimom} says:

   5 November 2012 at 8:30 pm

   You’re welcome!!
8. Steve says:

   26 January 2013 at 4:01 am

   Good advice. I had heard about breaking in books long ago but kind of ignored it. I bought a very expensive technical book and the spine broke immediately on opening it down the middle. I’m exchanging it and will break in the next copy.
9. Jaime {sophistimom} says:

   31 January 2013 at 1:34 pm

   I hope breaking it in will be the answer for you, Steve. That is so frustrating!
10. Two Wonderful Books | Blue-Footed Musings says:

    26 February 2013 at 6:56 am

    [...] P.S. Because this book is so large, I recommend breaking it in before reading it. I didn’t, and that may be why the spine warped as I was reading. For those who don’t know how to break in a book, I found a nice explanation at Sophistimom. [...]
11. About the Book Binding – And a little Philosophizing | Michele Pika Nielson says:

    10 May 2013 at 2:52 pm

    [...] If you want a review of how to do this (I needed one!) check out the instructions and photos at: how to break in a book binding. Of course, if you are really using the book a lot, you might want to just take it to your local [...]