A friend at SUNY Press sent me these links today, one from Encyclopedia Britannica’s archives and one from the AFL-CIO. They’re about book printing and binding. Wow! Look at the machines (who designed and manufactured those!?), and all the people it took to create a book! Today, at The Troy Book Makers–excluding the author–one person can make an entire book, including design, from start to finish. (Granted, we don’t do hard covers or foil stamping, but could probably learn if we had to!)
Take 10 minutes and watch, and get a good look at how things used to be. Fascinating!