Traditional bookbinding: Persian handicraft

The traditional craft of bookbinding, the joining together of several leaves or folios within covers to form a book, has long been practiced in Iran.

Iranian nation cares so much about books and have highly regarded books from ancient times. That is why the nation has used every possible way to elegantly decorate and protect them.

Since ancient times, a beautiful and exquisite cover has represented the high value of the text of the book and encouraged and excited the reader.

The art of making book covers flourished during the rule of Shah Rukh of Timurid. During the rule of Naser al-Din Shah of Qajar, the oil method or ‘Laki’ (lacquered cover) became a very common method of bookbinding. 

According to historians, many covers were found from the private library and have been moved to the royal library later. Among the book covers of the Naser al-Din Shah, there are pieces of leather or fabric, mostly velvet, which have been created using foreign methods.

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