3. The name Egyptian is applied to this kind of binding, and this would seem to indicate the place of its origin. Each volume had two rollers, so that the continued sheet could be wound from one to the other at pleasure. The square, or present form of binding, is also of great antiquity, as it is supposed to have been invented at Pergamus, about 200 years before Christ, by King Attalus, who, with his son Eumenes, established the famous library in that city. 4. The first process of binding books consists in folding the sheets according to the paging. This is done by the aid of an ivory knife, called a _folder_; and the operator is guided in the correct performance of the work by certain letters called _signatures_, placed at the bottom of the page, at regular intervals through the book. 5. Piles of the folded sheets are then placed on a long table in the order of their signatures, and gathered, one from each pile, for every book. They are next beaten on a stone, or passed between steel rollers, to render them smooth and solid. The latter method has been introduced within a few years. This operation certainly increases the intrinsic value of the book; but it is not employed in every case, since it is attended with some additional expense, and since it diminishes the thickness of the book, and consequently its value in the estimation of the public at large. 6. The sheets, having been properly pressed, are next sewed together upon little cords, which, in this application, are called _bands_. During the operation these are stretched in a perpendicular direction, at suitable distances from each other, as exhibited in the foregoing cut. The folded sheets are usually notched on the back by means of a saw, and at these points they are brought in juxta-position with the bands. After the pages of several volumes have been accumulated, the bands are severed between each book. The folding, gathering, and sewing, are usually performed by females. 7. At this stage of the process, the books are received by the men or boys, who generally _take on_ one hundred at a time. The workman first spreads some glue on the backs of each book with a brush. He then places them, one after the other, between boards of solid wood, and beats them on the back with a hammer. By this means the back is rounded, and a groove formed on each side for the admission of one edge of the pasteboards. 8. These having been applied, and partially fastened by means of the bands, which had been left long for the purpose, the books are pressed, and the leaves of which they are composed are trimmed with an instrument called a _plough_. The pasteboards are also cut to the proper size by the same means, or with a huge pair of shears. In the preceding picture, a workman is represented at work with the plough. The edges are next sprinkled with some kind of coloring matter, or covered with gold leaf. A strip of paper is then glued on the back, and a _head-band_ put upon each end.