The large industrial printing firm of Eyre & Spottiswood issued a version of the bible notable for its black papier mâché binding executed in the “monastic style” with raised borders on the front and rear covers with a central figure inside a series of Gothic arches.
The process, created during the Gothic Revival period by the English firm Jackson & Sons, was meant to imitate medieval woodcarving. Papier-mâché binding panels were machine-made, using a plaster and antinomy mixture pressed over metal frames, papier mâché, or into molds. The actual binding process would have been undertaken by trade binders.
Due to the fragile nature of the materials, few books bound in this manner remain.
